The Big Bad Wolf
by MorganOfTheFey
Summary: She was just a kid when I first picked her up, like a bad habit. No, what I should say was that she picked me up, and I'm the bad habit, the bad influence, the big bad wolf... Rogan, SMUT FINALLY UP! The companion fic to this story is The Bad Habit, ALSO rated M, told from Marie's POV
1. How Dare She

**A/N: This chapter here is the new chapter one, and the update for this week. The chapter that I first posted on Saturday is going to end up being chapter 3, so new readers should think of it as a "preview" of what's to come. I'll post the second chapter that builds a bit of the back story and links the two together next week.**

**So sorry for all of the confusion! I'm still trying to figure out how I want this story to work, but I think I've got it down now, so this shouldn't happen again.**

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At first, I just kept her around because I was being selfish. But by the time I realized what had happened, it was already too late to give her up.

The Wolverine had found its mate.

Which was bullshit, because I specifically thought I wouldn't have to deal with that asshole sniffing around her because she was so young. But he just had to rear his fugly old head just when I thought I had got that shit under control.

And then I was far too gone caring for a little girl that was far too young.

The worst part was that she only ever asked about it once, asked why I gave her a ride and some food, and she never questioned it again after that. Never asked why a grown ass man would tote around a little girl, never asked why I always had to know where she was, never even asked about the times she caught me looking at her in a way I shouldn't.

She only asked the once, and that was when I first picked her up.

Caught her hiding underneath a tarp in the bed of my pickup actually. Never know when you need a good tarp to wrap up a body.

I'd seen her lurking around the bar a couple nights that week. She was so little and quiet no one really paid attention to her, but I was a natural predator and it was my business to pay attention to everyone around me.

She sent little glances my way too, but I guess she had to pay attention to everyone too, but in a prey sorta way. Only natural that she noticed me most of all, the clear Alpha male of the lot.

I don't even know what made me do it. Probably because of all the little glances, because she was just always fucking _there_, and it was pissing me off. Maybe if I fed her just one time, I could stop thinking about her pale face and darting eyes.

Didn't even look at her when I did it, just threw the wrapped up burger at her without breaking my stride, the way you'd drop change in a homeless person's cup. She probably wouldn't have taken it if I had slowed down though, given her time to refuse.

The shadows under her eyes seemed a little less pronounced the next night I saw her, so I'm pretty sure she ate it.

That was the night I told the manager I'd be leaving just after my fight. Collect my winnings and go, before the locals got too pissed off at me for winning all the time. She must have heard, because that was also the night she tried to sneak a ride in my truck.

Not sure if she knew the truck was mine or if she just decided to move on the same time as me, but I could smell her nervousness huddled under my tarp. Probably why I wasn't paying attention, and those asshole locals I mentioned caught me off guard.

Same old shit—I won too much, I had cheated, I must be a mutie, blah blah blah. I dealt with the first two, no problem, but the third pulled a gun in the meantime and put a bullet in my back.

Not that it mattered, aside from hurting like a sonofabitch. But when I turned around, he already had the gun aimed at my face, and head shots are a bitch like no fucking other.

Except the little girl hiding beneath the tarp jumped out at him, hands that had always been covered with gloves now bare and pressing against his face, both of them making choking noises like they couldn't breathe.

I didn't know what the fuck was going on, but I knew enough to pull her off of him and not to touch her skin, that much was obvious. It wouldn't be long before the rest of the locals found their unconscious and possibly comatose friends, and that might involve law enforcement, so I threw her in the cab with me and got the hell out of dodge.

Twenty miles in and she had the nerve to sass me about my seat belt. If I didn't know better, I would have thought she cared. But I did, and she couldn't possibly.

I could smell her nervousness, but it wasn't quite fear, even when she looked at my hands. She asked if it hurt, something no one had ever cared about before, and that was where my entire world got fucked over.

I still think if she just hadn't asked that question with worry in her scent and concern in her eyes, then maybe...maybe I could have let her go when we pulled up to a shit hole motel around dawn.

But she did, so I got a room with two beds and hauled her inside, along with a pair of pliers and a bottle of whiskey. I told myself it was just because I needed someone to dig out the lead in my back so the bullet hole could heal up.

She flinched and backpedaled when I took my shirt off. I was so wrapped up in my pain, in myself, I didn't think how it would look to her, especially with me still holding the bottle.

"I ain't gonna hurtcha, kid." I growled.

Yeah, maybe growling at her hadn't been all that reassuring, but I was in pain and a shit mood. She stayed pressed against the door, but she didn't run. I think we both knew it wouldn't have helped her any if she had.

I went in the bathroom to get some towels, and she gasped at the sight of my back. I hoped she wasn't squeamish and puked or something, because I wasn't in the mood to put up with that shit.

"Ah thought he missed."

It was so quiet that only I could have heard it, although I pretended like I didn't and kept walking.

There were only two towels to pick from, both of them stained with fluids I wished I couldn't smell. I ran one under the lukewarm water from the sink and hoped it was a bit cleaner for it.

"Kid. Bring the pliers and get in here."

She edged forward in baby steps and picked up the pliers I'd thrown on one of the beds with my shirt. I watched her take the same tiny steps toward the bathroom and took a long pull from the bottle.

She flinched.

I scowled and sat sideways on the toilet, but I didn't put my bottle down. She crept up behind me and stood there smelling like fear.

"Use the wet towel to wipe the blood off."

It was several seconds before she obeyed, but she got the wet towel out of the sink and put the pliers there instead, then started dabbing at my back. Her brushes were timid at first, but they got firmer just before I could snap at her for it, although they remained oddly gentle.

She stayed still and silent behind me when she was finished.

"You see the metal pieces?" I grunted.

I could see her nod in the mirror out of the corner of my eye.

"Take 'em out."

"Ain't yah supposed to use tweezers?" She whispered.

I snorted. "Tweezers are for pussies."

There was another couple seconds of delay, but once again she obeyed just before my temper snapped. She grabbed the pliers and used the jaws to nudge aside the torn pieces of flesh in the hole in my back.

I growled but didn't raise my arm to take another swig. Bad enough to have some little kid poking around in my back with a pair of pliers without me moving around to make it worse.

The jaws clamped down on a piece of metal, the pressure making it shift ever so slightly, and I clenched my jaw in preparation.

"On three." She told me. "One, two—"

She yanked. I opened my mouth, then bit through my lip to stifle a howl.

"That was the biggest one."

She dropped a jagged metal piece soaked in blood into the sink. It did look like that was most of the bullet, and if I was lucky, the other fragments were few and large.

"There's a lot of littler ones though."

Fuck my luck and fuck my life.

She spent the next ten minutes pulling out tiny fragments of metal and cleaning the wound up when it bled too much. Finally, about a minute passed with no more yanking, although she kept searching just to be sure that was all.

"Oh, ah see another one rah-ght..."

The pliers gripped and pulled, and my body contorted in ways I didn't know it could. I would have howled then, if I had been capable of sucking air into my lungs.

When the black spots of pain left my vision, and I could think clearly again, she was kneeling in front of me.

"Mister? Mister are yah okay? Ah'm sor—"

"That was my fucking spine!" I shouted.

But even with me shouting in her face, her fear didn't get any greater, and she really did look more sorry than scared.

"Ah'm sorry. Ah didn't know." She mumbled.

I just wiped the blood off my chin and took a much needed swig of whiskey. Not that it did any damn good, with my healing factor stopping the alcohol from having any effect. Without the bullet or her pliers in the way, I could feel the muscles in my back begin to knit themselves back together, so it was too late to do anything about it if there was still a piece or two left inside.

I glanced back down at her, and she looked up at me, still kneeling between my legs on the bathroom floor. _That_ sure got her fear going.

She practically leapt to her feet and stood straight enough to be at military attention. I snorted, stood up, and walked out of the bathroom, still drinking.

The gasp she made when she saw my newly healed back that time was smaller than the first, but it made me freeze in the doorway. I turned around and glared at her, sniffing the air because I was certain I had been mistaken.

She still smelled like nerves and fear, but for a second there, I thought I had smelled happiness. As if she was fucking _glad_ that I was okay.

The scent was gone now, if it had ever been there, and me just standing there glaring at her wasn't helping. So I snorted again in an attempt to get her scent out of my nose and walked back out.

She started to trail after me, but I picked up the phone and gestured toward the bathroom with it.

"Take a shower and get yourself cleaned up, kid." I ordered.

She actually managed to maintain eye contact with me for a few seconds and it pissed me off. She dropped her eyes when I growled at though and retreated into the bathroom, closing the door and turning the lock.

Not like it wouldn't take me all of five seconds to kick it down if I wanted to, but if it gave her some false illusion of safety, maybe the stench of her fear wouldn't be so strong.

I ordered two pizzas with sausage and Canadian bacon and regular bacon on them because fuck yeah meat. I'd rather have a steak or just kill something myself, but neither of those were options at the moment.

The TV only showed static, but I kicked it into working and managed to get a fuzzy hockey game on screen while I waited for the pizza.

It had to be at least a half a motherfucking hour before the pizza guy showed up, and the kid was still in the bathroom, even though the water quit running ten minutes ago. Guess it was for the best though, 'cause I didn't want any questions about why I had a little girl in my room.

The pizza guy left without a tip, but with all of his limbs and fingers still attached, which I thought was tip enough.

And the kid was still in the bathroom.

I set the pizzas on the bed and pounded on the door. "Got two minutes to get out or I come in."

There was a mumbled agreement that wasn't even really a word, but it would do. I laid back on the bed closest to the door and started eating.

Exactly one minute fifty five seconds later, the kid peeked out of the door. Her hair was wet, but she'd put the same dirty clothes back on which fucking defeated the purpose of a shower. I wondered where the nearest thrift shop was before I caught myself and shut that thought process down. She was just here for the night, in exchange for patching up my back. That was it.

"Here." I grunted, pushing one of the opened boxes of pizza on the bed in her general direction.

I turned my gaze back to the TV, but I kept my senses trained on her and watched her out of my peripheral vision. She was taking tiny baby steps again, and I made sure to keep my eyes straight ahead when she finally reached the edge of my bed.

She scooped out a slice then quickly backed up to hover in between the other bed and the bathroom while she ate. After she finished, she just stood there, not moving.

I looked at her then. She was so thin she looked on the cusp of anorexia, she was biting her lower lip, and her entire body was shaking with want as she tried to keep her eyes on me and not the food.

"Get another."

I didn't bother telling her it was okay or trying to be gentle. It was easier to just give her a command and not worry about her feelings. I was giving her food and that should be enough.

I looked back at the game. She repeated the creeping closer and grabbing a slice move, and went straight back to the spot she had been at while she ate. She even did it once more without direct permission, although it made her smell more nervous.

The nervousness seemed to be growing, but at least her fear had leveled out into a somewhat tolerable and entirely familiar stink of burnt rubber.

I finished eating the rest of the pizzas and the game finished playing, so I sat up and took up my boots. She watched me without moving, but she flinched for the third time the instant I touched my belt buckle. I looked up at her and eyes locked again.

She looked away first.

"Ah, Ah uhm, don't know how...Ah'm supposed...to pay." She stuttered.

To pay.

Her, a little girl who couldn't be older than fourteen—if that—thinking she had to pay for three slices of pizza and a night at a shitty motel.

Didn't she see I had gotten two beds like a fucking gentlemen?!

"Ah've never...done...anything, so Ah don't know..." She kept stuttering in the silence.

"Well no shit."

Fuck, I hadn't meant to say that out loud.

"Just..." She took a deep breath and looked at me. "Tell me what Ah need to do."

"Get in that bed and shut the fuck up."

How _dare_ she. I had fed her—twice now—given her a ride, a shower, a place to sleep. And she looks at me like I'm going to hurt her, and even though I know I'm shit, I just couldn't fucking stand it.

Her bottom lip only started to tremble before she bit it again and did what I told her. I finished taking off my belt as she crawled under the covers. She drew them up around herself as if they would protect her when I clicked off the TV.

I turned off the lamp and got in my own bed.

She stayed so still that I could hear her stop breathing for almost an entire minute. I stared at the water stains on the ceiling. Just when I thought I was going to have to give her permission to fucking breathe, she let it out in a slow whoosh.

I made the mistake of glancing over at her, and she looked back at me with this tiny little smile like she had known nothing bad was going to happen, because the world couldn't _really_ be that bad, and I had just proved her right.

And somehow that was even worse than the look she had given me before. Because how dare she pin her innocent hope on me like that.

How fucking dare she.


	2. Pack Mates

I woke up to the sound of running water. Twenty minutes later, feet tip toed across the floor. They were nearly quiet enough to be silent, at least to a human. The door opening and closing was louder, but still as quiet as possible with squeaky hinges.

But at least the kid was gone. Out of the motel, out of my life. I relaxed and tried to go back to sleep.

The sound of the door opening again woke me out of my dose. I raised my head and prepared to snarl at housekeeping to fuck off, but I locked eyes with the kid instead.

She had a child's backpack slung over her shoulder, a cup of coffee in one hand, and a muffin in the other. She walked closer and set both on the little nightstand separating our beds, then sat down on hers.

I stared at her.

She fidgeted.

"Ah didn't steal it or nuthin'. Ah had some change saved up."

She unslung her backpack and set it in her lap, using it as a distraction so she didn't have to look at me. I wondered where she had got it from when it hit me that she had always wore it before. Kid had probably left it in the back of my truck when she jumped that guy.

When I said nothing, she unzipped it and took out a bottle.

"Here."

I shifted my gazed to her outstretched hand with the pill bottle in it, but didn't move otherwise.

"It's just Tah-lenol. If yah got a fever, yah need—"

"I'm fine."

My voice came out even lower than I intended, still husky from sleep, but the near growl didn't scare her. She didn't smell like fear at all, just a bit of lingering nervousness.

"But..." Her voice trailed off under my stare before she recovered some of her courage and spoke up again. "Your back...?"

"S'fine. Saw it last night, didn't ya?" I asked, sitting up.

Her eyes darted over to take in what little she could see of my back with my side to her.

"It's really alrah-ght then?" She whispered.

"What I just fucking said."

Maybe I shouldn't swear at the kid, but I had never watched my words before, and I sure as fuck wasn't about to start.

"Do yah not like coffee?"

Her question startled me out of my stretch, and her wide eyes made it seem like my answer was everything to her.

I reached for the coffee and sniffed it. Burnt and black. I didn't want to know what sort of place she'd wandered into to get the cup of shit. It was a wonder some trucker hadn't abducted her...anymore than I had.

I took a drink. Cup o'shit was right.

"Eat."

She jumped at the sudden command but shook her head.

"Yah need the food."

"Said my back was fine." I growled, sure that would be the end of it.

"Must take energy to heal. Yah need the food." She repeated.

Kid had more backbone than I thought, to argue with me this early in the morning.

"I ate more'n a pizza an'ahalf last night."

She opened her mouth to continue the debate like this was some kinda fucking democracy, but I let out a real growl at her.

"Shut the fuck up and eat the goddamn muffin."

I took another drink of burnt coffee. She had gone quiet, and I expected to smell the salt of tears any second, but she smiled at me when I looked up instead. It was a small one and gone even before she reached for the muffin, but it nearly made me choke on my mouthful of liquid shit.

What right did she have to smile at me?

She unwrapped the muffin, tore off a piece, and popped the tiny bite into her mouth. Damn if the little brat didn't have fucking table manners. I chugged the rest of the coffee.

"Shouldn't have come back, kid." I muttered.

She swallowed and shrugged before she spoke.

"Yah could've left me."

I didn't feel like thinking about why I didn't, so I just grunted in her direction and swung my legs over the other side of the bed. She made a small noise, and I knew she was looking at my back.

She smelled happy.

I stood up and felt the impulse to bolt out the door. Just hop in my truck and leave the kid entirely. That seemed too much like running away though, and I wanted a shower anyway. Kid would probably be gone—along with my money—when I got out.

I walked to the bathroom door, but her voice stopped me with my hand on the knob.

"Why didn't yah?"

"Didn't what?!" I snarled, glaring at her over my shoulder and hoping she'd take the hint.

"Leave me."

"Why'd you jump that fucktard with a gun?" I demanded.

"'Cause he woulda shot yah." She replied, her voice and scent surprised.

"Not your problem."

"Was if ah wanted a ride. An' it wasn't your problem that ah was hungry."

She looked pleased with herself for the response, but I didn't stick around to see her smug expression for long. I slammed the bathroom door shut hard enough to rattle the thin walls.

The shower was lukewarm, but I stayed in there a good twenty minutes to giver her time to get gone. I put my jeans back on and found that she had scrubbed most of the blood out of my shirt before she snuck out for the coffee. I put that on too and walked out of the bathroom looking for my belt and boots.

The kid was waiting cross legged on her bed.

"Why the fuck are you still here?!" I snapped.

"Yah didn't answer my question." She answered, not even having the decency to smell afraid of me anymore.

"Listen kid, if ya think just 'cause I didn't hurt ya last night I won't do it now, yer in fer a world o'hurt." I snarled.

She pressed her lips together and smelled more nervous, but still not afraid.

"Ah touched yah...last night." She mumbled. "Ah didn't mean tah, but when yah jumped, mah wrist touched..."

"The fuck's that got to do with anything?!" I demanded.

She worried her lower lip before she finally answered. "Ah can hear him in mah head."

"Who?!"

She looked up at me with eyes that knew too much.

"He says his name is Wolverine, but that kinda sounds like how I say mah name's Rogue."

"What else has he been saying?"

Jesus Christ, the Wolverine was somehow in her head now too. If she wasn't lying, just making shit up to get my sympathy. But if he really was there, fucking up her head the way he did mine, she had it.

"He said yah don't hurt..." She paused and cocked her head to the side. "...kitlings."

"That all?" I asked, eyes narrowed. He always had a shit ton to say to me about food and territory and...women.

She shook her head and blushed. "He's not very nice."

I winced at the thought of what that asshole might be saying to this little slip of a girl.

"Ah mean, he...he ain't cruel or nothin', an' he makes the other voi—"

She bit her lip and looked at the floor.

"Other what? Voices?"

She bit her lip and looked at the floor.

Made sense though. If she got my—his—voice from touching me, she'd at least have to have the guy she'd touched last night in her head too.

That was the last fucking thing I needed though. Some kid hearing voices in her head, the only person who could possibly be even crazier than me.

"He makes 'em be quiet, an' he doesn't say nothin' bad to me like—" Her voice stopped again, then restarted. "So ah don't mind none if he swears and gets mad at other people."

I nodded.

What the fuck else was I supposed to do?! I sure as shit wasn't going to be dragging some little kid around after me, but I couldn't just leave her all alone with him inside her head.

Wait, like hell I couldn't. Leaving people was my own personal fucking specialty, right up there with fighting and actual fucking.

I'd give her some cash though, maybe pay for the room for a few more nights. But I would leave, and then I'd never have to see her smile at me again.

But with all the talk of him, that's when the asshole decided to pipe up in my head too.

_The fuck you are, bub. She fought for us, fixed us up, gave us food...she's ours now._

I didn't want her. She'd be a liability, a nuisance. I thought the Wolverine would have been even quicker to get rid of the weak little scrap of flesh as I was.

He just snorted. _Wasn't weak what she did to that fucktard earlier. Fucked him right up, looked like. 'Bought time we get ourselves a pack-mate anyway._

"I don't need a pack-mate!"

She jumped, and I realized I'd said that last part out loud. She didn't look at me like I was crazy though. She looked like she understood completely.

"He says we're part of a pack now." She whispered.

The hell we were. I'd never gotten close to anyone, not that I could remember. I didn't have friends, I didn't have family, and I sure as fuck didn't have relationships of any kind beyond a single night.

And her one night was up.

_So now what, dumbass? Gonna leave her out in the cold, just me an' her? Ya really gonna abandon the one person who's ever done shit fer ya, then turn around and tell me I'm an animal with no compassion?!_

Yeah, because what the kid really needed was some violently psychotic older man to drag her around after him into shitty motels and shady bars. I'll just brighten her life up like a fucking rainbow.

_Maybe yer just some whiny bitch, but **I **take care of my pack-mates. Providing food, shelter, and protection is what an Alpha does fer his pack._

"Ah promise ah won't touch yah."

"What?" I asked, snapping back into the motel with her.

"Mah skin only...hurts...when ah'm scared. An' ah'll keep covered up, an' be real careful. Ah don't each much neither, an' ah'll be quiet too."

She looked up at me with her stupid deer eyes. That's what she looked like, a doe seeing a wolf for a first time and thinking maybe they can be friends.

She smelled like hope.

I scowled and scrubbed at my face with my hand, feeling my claws itch beneath the surface.

"This ain't for shits and giggles, kid. Not something you can back out of once it's done." I warned.

She just shrugged. "Ah'll be your pack-mate, and yah will be mahne."

"You don't know what the fuck you're saying, kid." I tried.

"He says yah will feed me and make sure ah'm safe. An' ah can help yah too, if yah get hurt. Ah can clean and cook some, an' ah'm tougher than ah look." She said.

I gave her an outright sneer at that last part, but she just wiggled gloved fingers in my direction.

You ain't gonna let her go, are ya? The Wolverine didn't even bother to respond to that.

Well shit.

"What's your name, kid?"

She gave the type of smile I had only ever seen in movies, the Christmas specials.

"Marie."

I held off telling her mine. It seemed too final. The Wolverine must have felt it too, because he started to get restless. I grit my teeth, but if I could have stopped this, she would have already been hitching at the side of the road.

That thought only pissed the Wolverine off even more, so I finally snarled out my name.

"Logan."

She was still smiling at me, and the Wolverine leered back.

_Ours._


	3. Just This Once

**A/N (April 29th): Okay, so this is the last wonky update. I know things have been cray, but I'm getting my shit together, I promise. For those of you who have already seen the first part of this chapter, the new "update" is the second half, which starts after the divider line in the middle. It picks up immediately after where this chapter used to end, and it's the shower scene between Logan and Marie.**

**Next Monday the new chapter will be chapter number four and then five and six and so forth like it's a normal person that's writing this fic. There will be no more crazy updates after this (I sorta promise) and thank you SO MUCH for those of you who have reviewed and stayed with me until this point.**

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She was just a kid when I first picked her up, like a bad habit. No, what I should say was that _she _picked _me_ up, and I'm the bad habit, the bad influence, the big bad wolf.

Wish I could say I kept her around because I didn't have the heart to throw her scrawny ass back into the cold, but it wasn't nothing so noble as that. I just didn't have the strength to do the right thing and get her set up someplace nice, someplace far away from me, where she couldn't look at me with her big brown eyes and make me feel like maybe I wasn't a piece of shit after all.

Except I was, and I damn well knew it. Everyone who took one look at me did. Everyone but her. So I kept her just because I didn't want to be alone, just because I wanted one good thing, just because I had something to prove.

I, I, I. What was best for her never even entered the fucking equation until it was too late for me to give her up and she'd already developed some sort of Stockholm Syndrome anyway.

But it wasn't like I didn't treat her okay. I let her ride up front next to the heaters when I drove. I got her clothes that were a damn sight finer than the rags she had been wearing. Gave her decent food two or three times a day. A place to sleep.

Right fucking there was where it started getting complicated. I sure as fuck wasn't going to be sleeping my ass on the floor, and I couldn't make her do it either, like she was some kind of pet. So I tried to be a fucking gentleman about it and get rooms with two beds, but that didn't always work and she wouldn't always stick to her side of the room.

Damn near impaled her the first time I woke up from one of my dreams, claws already popped and the Wolverine howling for blood. She just sat there, fear coming off of her in waves, and I thought she'd never look at me the way I needed her to again. But then she did look at me, like she was only scared _for_ me and asked if I was alright.

Fucking complicated. 'Cause then the next night when she woke me up again and decided to stay, I wasn't strong enough to make her go back to her own damn bed where she belonged. And then it just sorta became habit, and I couldn't sleep without her, and she never said anything about it if sometimes I held her too tight after one of the dreams.

And she was thirteen.

Sure, she turned fourteen soon enough, just about a month after I picked her up. And maybe that was the age of consent in a couple of the hick states down south, but not even I was a shit enough person to do that to her.

Not all at once at least. And I tried, I swear on every nonexistent deity, I _tried_ to treat her right, the way any decent grown man would treat a little kid. But with each new town, each fresh nightmare, each time she fucking smiled at me...I could feel my control slipping just that much further.

And the Wolverine was pissed.

He knew she was fertile, I could smell it coming on every month, and I made sure she got all that feminine shit she needed even if the cashiers did give me funny looks when I bought tampons. That was all the "age of consent" that the animal needed too, just that she was barely old enough to technically be called a woman.

I tried though. Keep that in mind for this next part because just like the bed thing, I wasn't the one who started it.

I was just taking a shower, washing some dickhead's blood off, and generally minding my own goddamn business. Then she pops in there as if it was the most natural thing in the world and announced that I must be doing something wrong for my hair to look all crazy the way it did and that she was going to help.

I shoved her out though. Small fucking consolation, but that's what I tell myself in the middle of the night when she's curled up asleep next to me and breathing on my neck and my cock's straining in my sweats.

Yeah, had to buy a whole set of sweats to wear to bed if she was going to insist on crawling in with me. Not that I ever really did anything to stop her.

But I tried to stop that. I said no like a responsible adult...the first time. That was the thing about this little girl though—she didn't give up. Not on life, not on me, not on anything she put her mind to.

And not on "helping" me shower.

Fuck. **(new chapter below this line)**

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"Marie, you can't be in here." I growled.

She just looked up at me with all the insolence of a little kid. "Ah wanna help."

"I know how to wash my own damn hair, kid."

She turned her head to the side and scowled. I tried not to notice the way the water had already plastered her dark hair against all that creamy, unmarked skin and pushed the curtain back in a clear sign that she needed to get _out._

But she didn't move, and I didn't trust myself to physically touch her, so we both just stood there while water sprayed out onto the floor.

"Ah promise ah won't hurtcha." She finally mumbled.

I almost spluttered on my words, but I managed to turn it into a growl at the last second. _She_ was afraid she was going to hurt _me_? Didn't this child have any god given sense, I was the dangerous one, not her!

"Ain't worried about that, kid."

She still sulked at a crack in the tiled wall. I wanted to lift her chin and make her look at me, but I was still trying to behave myself with the whole, "don't touch the fourteen year old girl while she's naked in the shower with you" rule.

"Look at me."

Her eyes flitted up to my chest, but stopped just before my neck.

"Marie."

Fuck, I shouldn't have said her name like that, all authoritative and shit because when her eyes instantly looked up to obey my command, I started wondering what else I could get her to do with that voice.

"I ain't ever worried about that. An' even if something does happen, I'll heal and it won't change nothing between us." I told her, leaving out the part where she'd always be mine.

Her scowl softened, but she still frowned a bit. "Then let me."

"Ki—"

"Logan." Fuck if I could think straight when she said my name like that. "Ah wanna do something for yah."

Shit damn fuck fuck fuck.

I turned around and glared at the opposite end of the shower while I focused on _not_ getting a raging hard on. She must have taken that for permission though because she ran her hands over the back of my neck and up into my hair.

Too late.

While I tried to control my breathing—and my dick—her hands kept working at my hair. She gave a little human growl of frustration and tugged on the back of my arm.

"Ah can't reach. Sit."

If _anyone_ else had ever dared to tell me to "sit" I guaran—fucking—tee that was the last thing they said, but when she said it, I sat my ass on the shower floor like the whipped bitch I was.

Her hands wove into the hair at the top of my head though, massaging my scalp and making it seem worth the shame. I drew my knees up and wrapped my arms around them just to be sure she couldn't see what she was doing to me.

Then she started humming and suddenly I couldn't remember why this was a bad idea. She stood a bit off to the side so I still got some hot water too, and the way her nails just barely scraped against my scalp when she worked the shampoo in made me growl in satisfaction.

A soft giggle broke me out of my blissfully relaxing trance.

"Ah didn't know yah could purr, Logan." She teased.

"Don't tell anyone or you'll ruin my rep." I mumbled.

She laughed again, the sound brightening up the dingy hotel bathroom like sunshine as she rinsed the shampoo out.

"Wait rah-ght here, sugah." She drawled, still snickering.

I tensed as she stepped out of the tub, but I buried my head in my arms and refused to look at her. I could hear her stop not too far away though, anyway. It sounded like she was opening the mirror above the sink, but the only thing in that tiny shelf was a first aid kit, and it wasn't like I ever needed that.

Her feet padded back over to the shower, and she got in again, one hand smoothing through my hair. It should have made me nervous, not knowing what she had in her other hand, but she still smelled like happiness and sunshine and apples.

She pulled my hair ever so slightly, and then I heard the snip of scissors.

Oh shit no, I did _not_ sign up for a haircut.

"Marie." I growled, turning my head to the side.

"Don't be a baby, Logan. Yah look like a caveman."

I let out a noise that was supposed to be a growl, but somehow ended up closer to a whine.

"Ah'm just gonna trim it down so it don't stick up so much." She soothed, rubbing the spot where my neck and shoulder met.

I was just barely able to keep from "purring" again, and she took advantage of my momentary distraction to snip off another chunk.

Well, fuck. If I ended up with bald patches it wasn't as if anyone would have the balls to say shit about it anyway. And maybe if I let her have her way just this once, she'd quit it with the showering together bullshit. The haircut wasn't even all that bad. Between her hands and her nails and her humming I was as close to heaven as I'd ever get.

"Done." She announced, stepping back out of the shower to put back the scissors.

I had to choke down another whine at her absence, but at least she was out of the shower, and I could finish washing the rest of myself in peace. Maybe even do something to take care of the rather large problem I'd been having for the past half hour.

Well, that was what I thought, until she popped straight back in with me.

"Dammit kid, ain't it time for you to be in bed?"

I didn't mean to snap at her, but why the fuck couldn't she leave well and good alone?!

"Ah gotta shower too. Scootch." She said, forcing me out from under the now lukewarm water.

I crossed my arms and growled at her, doing my best to look like a serious, responsible adult instead of a perv, but she just giggled at me like she knew I wasn't gonna do jackshit about it.

Smug little brat was right too.

I still made half-assed attempts to kick her out every now and then, but after that, showering together became sorta habit too. I stuck to the "no touching" rule as much as I could in tiny showers not meant to hold big men and little girls, and she kept her eyes above my waist and never said nothing about anything below it, or the way I'd stay in for an extra couple of minutes after she left.

It ain't like I'm a "couple minutes" guy, though. Just with her prancing around buck ass naked and dripping wet in front of me, it didn't take too long.

And I know I'm going to hell for thinking of her when I jacked off, but I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere about this thing called tolerantia. Some Catholic thing that means a little sin is better than a bigger sin.

Like masturbation versus pedophilia.

Figure Catholic priests know a lot about that last part, and I'm going to hell for a whole score of other reasons, so that was how I justified it to what little conscience I had left.

'Sides, she got older every day, and all I had was time. I tried my damnedest not to think of that though, me never changing and her always getting older. I still had some semblance of control too, enough to hold off on ever actually encroaching on her body.

For the moment.

* * *

**A/N: There are a few things you need to know about this fic: **

**It's going to be a while before they make it to the mansion, if I decide they ever do, so just forget about all of the other X-Men.**

**I can't really call this AU because all the X-Men stuff could still happen later, and they both still have their mutant powers. Marie's power however, only turns on when she's afraid. Once she's scared or hurt though, she has no control over it and can't turn it back off until she calms down.**

**I promise that...most...of the smutty part will happen when Marie is older, if that helps any.**

**Said smutty stuff is still a few chapters away, but Logan and Marie aren't exactly platonic in the meantime, despite poor Logan's best efforts.**

**I think I'm going to update this on Mondays, in contrast to my Joker/Batman fic which goes up on Fridays. (I know, I write for Marvel and DC, le gasp.)**

**Let me know if anything seems out of character, you have any suggestions/requests, or if you just want to feed my every-hungry ego.**


	4. Mirror Mirror

**A/N: For those of you who think I didn't update last Monday, I did, I just replaced chapter three, now titled Just This Once. The first half is the same, but there's an extra thousand or so words at the end that cover the shower scene between Logan and Marie. You don't want to miss that.**

**This is chapter four and from here on out, all chapters will update normally and in order.**

**Thank you for following with me thus far and an extra thank you to those that have reviewed! Some have asked when Logan and Marie get to the mansion and the answer is: after a long while. I still have a lot planned for in the meantime. The actual sex won't happen until then either, although that is by no means to say that they remain chaste...**

* * *

I don't know when the Wolverine stopped thinking of her as a pack mate and decided she was our mate. Either way, we gave her food, shelter, and protection. And at first, it wasn't even sexual, which is probably why it took so long for me to notice the change.

It was her sleeping next to me each night, through all the nightmares. It was her cleaning me up after every bar fight, digging out bullets and shards of broken glass, and washing the blood out of my clothes. It was her smiling at me like I was worth something, without a trace of judgment in her eyes.

And then I stopped fucking anything with a tramp stamp because I couldn't sleep without her. I kept up the fight scene, but I stopped deliberately starting shit. Even picked up a real job every now and then as a handyman or mechanic. I started to smile back.

That time in the shower wasn't the first time I had caught myself looking at her in a way I shouldn't, it was just the first time I had to face the truth wet and naked in front of me. But the thing about Marie was that the stupid kid trusted me.

Completely.

I knew she couldn't just be ignorant though. She told me she had five voices in her head—a trucker, a policeman, that fucktard she jumped, some kid named Cody, and the motherfucking Wolverine. And that wasn't even counting all the people she'd just brushed up against, the ones whose voices had finally quieted and faded away.

At least one of them had to know what happened to pretty little girls on the side of the road, even if it was just the animal I gave her. He sure as fuck knew how the world worked, and he'd never been subtle about his wants and opinions with me, so I didn't see any reason why he would be with her.

But even knowing the sort of ten o'clock news shit she could be getting into, the kid never acted scared around me. Too damn cocky really, acting like I would never hurt her in any way. Fucking pissed me off too, 'cuz that was a lot to live up to, and I never asked her to shove that sort of responsibility on me.

So for the first month, I just ignored her as much as possible.

Yeah, I gave her food and shit, it wasn't like I was neglectful or nothing. Let her sleep in my bed a couple times too **and** let her get away with that showering stunt she pulled. But that was it.

We'd drive during the afternoon, sometimes stop at a place to eat. I never asked for her opinion on where to eat, and she never offered one. Once in a while she'd make a quiet observation or ask a question, but otherwise we didn't talk.

I always left her at whatever motel room I'd paid for at night while I did my cage fighting routine. She'd usually be asleep by the time I got back, but she'd always wake up and give me a smile or help clean me up. She didn't ask any questions about the blood and booze though, and I didn't talk about it.

Mornings were slept through. Fuck mornings. She'd get up though, but she knew to be quiet about it. Got me coffee and some sort of food to appease my shit temper. I mostly just grunted or growled at her then, but she either understood or had the me in her head translate for her.

But as far as actual communication went, the kind with people words, we talked about exactly jackshit.

I'm not one of those "in touch with their feelings" pansies. Feelings are for pussies and should never be spoken of. So I didn't bother to have some sort of heart to heart with her when I thought we were just pack mates, and then once I started listening to what the Wolverine was saying about her being our mate, I definitely wasn't going to fucking talk about it.

Hey kid, could you do me a favor? See, I have this voice in my head that's telling me to claim you as my mate by fucking your brains out, but please like me anyway because if you don't, I'll go apeshit because I'm a possessive asshole who can't handle rejection.

That's a great fucking conversation starter.

And since I wasn't about to start a conversation like that, and the kid seemed too naturally quiet to do it, they just never happened. But as much as I tried to ignore my...feelings...I couldn't just ignore her. Not forever. Only a month, apparently.

So I dragged my eyes from the empty back road and glanced over at her. Kid was curled up in the passenger seat, staring out the window. She didn't smell bored or upset, just being quiet. There was one question I needed to know the answer to though, just so I would know how much of a creep I was, so that was when I finally asked her.

"How old are ya, kid?"

I could see her reflection blink a few times in the window before she turned to look at me, then at the busted clock on the dashboard.

"Is it past midnight?" She asked.

"Fuck does that have to do with it?"

She didn't react to my swearing. "If it is, Ah'm fourteen."

I nearly hit the brakes and kicked her out right then. If we had been anywhere near civilization, maybe I would have. Fucking fourteen, and according to my internal clock, only by two hours. Shit, I had been hoping for at least fifteen, trying to make myself believe she could be sixteen.

Shit damn fuck. Even by Arkansas standards, I was a pedophile for thinking of her the way I had for the past month. And if fucking Arkansas says you're a pedophile, then you're a goddamn pedophile.

"Go to sleep." I snarled out.

Still no hurt reaction at me being an asshole. Kid just curled up deeper in my jacket—the heater was busted and I wasn't gonna let her freeze—and went to sleep.

I got a room with two beds that night and vowed she'd stay in her own this time. But when I laid her down in her bed and tried to pull away to go to mine, she wrapped her arms around my neck and mumbled "Please, Logan?" against my shoulder.

And I caved and crawled under the covers with her like she knew I would and tried to understand how exactly that tiny little girl had managed to get me whipped like cream.

I had an armful of something warm and soft curled up against my chest, and I wasn't about to let go. I tightened my grip instead and buried my nose deeper into the tangle of hair curled around my face. It smelled sweet and young and _mine_.

But the curls shifted as my mate tried to pull away. I gave her a warning growl and tugged her back. I wasn't finished yet.

"Logan."

That just made me smirk against her neck. Damn straight, baby. Say my name.

"Ah gotta get up."

"No." I snarled against her skin and refused to let her go.

There was something I had to get up for though. I just couldn't remember it.

_You're already up, bub...heh._

Real proud of yourself for that one, ain't ya?

The Wolverine just leered at our mate and yanked at its leash in my mind. She squirmed in my arms again, and I pinned her down by her hip with my hand. The only reason I didn't push her head down and teach her how to really wake me up was because I wanted to get a good, long look at what was mine first.

And she looked back up at me with nothing but trust and a smile as she drawled, "Mornin' sugah."

"Sugar?" I repeated stupidly, frozen above her as the animal inside me howled in frustration.

"Yah, sugah. 'Cuz yah are so sweet when yah wake up." She replied.

She kept an innocent look for a few seconds before she started snickering. When I just glared at her and didn't say anything else, she called me grumpy and bounced out of bed, still giggling. And I was left alone with a guilty conscience and a hard on.

_That_ was why I had to get up. It was the kid's fourteenth birthday—fucking fourteen. Not fifteen or sixteen or anything near a reasonable age of consent. Fourteen, barely out of her preteens, still just a little kid.

Well, that's what I tried to tell myself anyway as I hauled my ass out of bed and tried to wrangle my dick out of my sweats and into its Levi prison.

_Maybe that's why they call them Wranglers._

Shut the fuck up.

_Blow me. Better yet, get our mate back in here and on her knees like I fucking told you._

SHUT UP! I do NOT need anymore of your input, asshole.

_We wouldn't both be in such a pissy mood if you would take that good for nothing dick of yours and **input** that tight little—_

I snarled and slammed my fist into the mirror hanging against the wall. It had already been cracked, but it shattered completely under my knuckles. The bathroom door burst open and the kid ran out, just my fucking luck.

"Logan!"

"What?!" I snapped, not in the mood for a lecture about breaking things in order to quiet the violently perverted voice in my head.

"Are yah okay? Ah thought..." Her eyes darted between my bleeding hand and the broken mirror. "Ah'll get the pliers."

She picked her backpack off the floor and rummaged through it until she found the pair of pliers she kept inside specifically for when I needed shards of bone, glass, and or metal yanked out of me.

"I got it, kid." I muttered, picking at the biggest pieces embedded in my knuckles.

"Nuh uh, if yah leave it like that, they'll get stuck in there an' hurt forevah. Now sit." She ordered.

I snarled at her out of habit. The beast was too close to the surface, and I really wasn't in the fucking mood. Actually, I _was_ in a fucking-mood and that was the problem.

She seemed to realize her mistake, but she didn't back down. "Please, Logan."

Damn kid had more backbone than sense. And I must have a giant, bleeding man-gina because I sat.

She stood in front of me and took my hand in one of hers, the other hand wielding the pliers. The bigger chunks came out easy, and I just kept my jaw clenched and eyes straight ahead. She leaned down lower to get a closer look, and her baggy shirt dipped even lower.

I started to grind my teeth.

She took that as a sign of physical pain stemming from my hand instead of the appendage between my legs that was straining my Levis to their limit, and she paused to rub the inside of my wrist reassuringly.

"Yah hand already healed, so Ah'm gonna hafta cut it back open to get the rest." She said, giving me a worried look.

"Just get it done." I muttered through my teeth.

She pulled out a pocketknife and whipped the blade open. It was a good sized knife that I hadn't seen before, and it made me feel slightly better that she at least had some means of protecting herself that wouldn't put more people in her head.

"Yah gotta hold yah hand still, but tell me when it hurts." She said.

I kept it steady while she rubbed her thumb over my knuckles. I drew my lips back in a silent snarl when she pressed against a piece of glass trapped beneath the skin, and she made a small cut with the knife so she could pull the piece out with the pliers. She kept up that routine until she finally declared the pliers were too big for the tiny glass slivers and started using her fingers instead.

I wouldn't go within a mile of a hospital, but I'd let this kid dig around through the insides of my hand with her nails and a pocketknife.

She pressed against a piece of glass that was between my knuckles, and I nearly bit my tongue off trying to keep quiet. Before I could swallow the blood and possibly part of my tongue to warn her, she used the knife to cut into my skin.

The knife brushed against something that sent a shock up my entire arm and into my chest. It felt like slamming into your funny bone, except a thousand times worse. My entire arm was numb, my claws were popped, and the kid had fallen straight onto her ass.

There was blood on her hands and the tip of one of my claws.

"Kid?"

I tried to make my voice harsh or even just gruff, anything but the desperate tone I was hearing in my ears, but there was black at the edges of my vision. The only time I could remember being this afraid was in a nightmare.

That's what it was. A nightmare, come to life, but worse. I could handle watching myself drown and soldiers, hell, even civilians.

But not this kid.

Not my mate.

Not Marie.

"Logan?"


	5. For Keeps

"Logan?"

The kid stood between my knees, holding my head in her hands, but it wasn't enough. I grabbed her and pulled her even closer. She fell awkwardly against me, still half standing and half sitting in my lap. I sunk my face into her wet hair and inhaled against her neck.

She smelled worried. Not scared or angry or even nervous anymore. Just worried. I took a deeper breath and smelt the blood, my blood, but I couldn't smell any of hers.

"It's alrah-ght Logan. Ah was just startled, that's all."

Her hands combed through my hair while I shook against her. I couldn't smell her blood, but there was blood on at least one of my claws, and I knew I felt one of them brush against her. I had to have cut her, I couldn't see how I hadn't.

"Ah guess they ain't sharp at the top, 'cuz it didn't cut m—"

I drew back and grabbed her sleeve-covered wrists before she could finish speaking. Both her hands were covered with blood, her fingers practically soaked in it. I pulled them up to my face and inhaled as deeply as I could, but I only smelled the familiar scent of my own blood.

She was right. The blunt edge at the top must have just brushed against her, not the sharp tip or underside.

"You have to leave."

Maybe I hadn't hurt her that time, but I'd already lost my shit not just once, but twice today. And that wasn't even counting what I had almost done before we even made it out of bed. It was only a matter of time before I really hurt her.

"Logan, wha—"

I forced myself to let go and push her back. "I'll give you some money and—"

"No!" She tried to reach for me.

"I ain't good fer ya, kid. I—"

"No, fuck yah, Logan! Yah broke a mirror, not mah arm!" She shouted, fists clenched at her sides and arms shaking. "Yah said, yah told me this was for keeps, so yah hafta keep me now!"

I narrowed my eyes, not expecting that at all. "Don't ya swear at me, kid. I never promised ya nothin' an' next time it might be!"

She threw her head back and laughed like a hooker who just found out she was still being arrested even after giving a "get out of jail free" blowjob. It gave me the fucking creeps and made me want to gut whoever had taught it to her.

"Yah think Ah've nevah been hurt before? Ah know yah'd nevah hurt me, but if Ah evah think otherwise, Ah'll drop yah like a habit. An' _that's_ a promise, sugah." She sneered.

"Ya don't know shit about me, kid." I snarled back.

She didn't even flinch. "Ah have yah in mah head, don't Ah? So don't yah even think about runnin' 'cuz Ah'll find yah no mattah where yah go, Ah swear Ah will!"

One moment she's promising to kill me and the next she's swearing to hunt me down if I ever leave. That should be a helluva red flag that this relationship ain't gonna be normal or anywhere near healthy, but the Wolverine just purred that she'd be a strong mate, one that wouldn't put up with my shit.

"So yah can't leave, yah can't..." She finally seemed to run out of steam, and I could smell the salt of tears mixed with the stench of burnt rubber. "Please...don't leave me..."

She hadn't been afraid of me since that first night and now even after nearly being gutted, her only fear was that I would leave her. She reached for me again, and I tried to push her away but she kept mumbling please against my chest, her hair acting as a barrier between our skin.

Then I was on my knees, holding her tight enough that she should've protested instead of pressing closer. Her hands were in my hair again because that was the only place she could hold me with her bare hands while she was still scared.

"Yah ain't gonna hurt me, Ah won't let yah. We ain't gonna leave each other either. It'll be alrah-ght." She whispered, her accent not quite as thick once she calmed down some.

I inhaled her scent for what was probably the tenth time that morning and knew she was right about the second part at least. There was no way I would ever be able to leave her, so I'd just have to get my shit together.

"I ain't gonna leave ya, kid." I mumbled against the top of her head.

Her scent calmed even more and the fear faded to a mix of nerves and anxiety. She wasn't scared anymore, but she wasn't convinced either.

Before I could think about it, I yanked my tags off and shoved them over her head.

They looked good there, hanging around her neck for everyone to see. They looked damn good. The Wolverine tried to voice his approval for finally marking her in some way, but I tightened his mental muzzle. I'd had enough shit from him for one morning. Son of a bitch had lost his speaking privileges.

But I didn't know how to explain the gesture to her as she pulled them away from her neck to look at them with a puzzled expression.

"He says these are really important." She said, looking back up at me for confirmation.

"So're you." I muttered. "Happy birthday."

Shit. Nothing else, that's all the morning had been. Shit dreams followed by losing my shit and then giving the kid a shitty present. I shouldn't have even bothered.

"Thank yah, Logan!" She threw herself forward and hugged me with her arms wrapped around my neck, her skin no longer dangerous.

Yeah, I almost sliced off your hand, tried to leave you, should've left you but couldn't go through with it, then gave you a worthless present. You're welcome.

"Imma take a shower." I said, just to have something to say, to do.

We both stood, and she kept grinning up at me, clearly not feeling the awkwardness I did.

"Well if Ah'd known yah were gonna take a shower, Ah woulda waited." She drawled.

"Don't start with me kid. Just...stay here." I muttered.

"Are yah sure yah don't want me to go get—"

Fuck no, she wasn't allowed to go anywhere without me. I glared at her and bit down a growl just as she cocked her head to the side like she was listening to a voice instead of me.

"Ah'll just stay here then." She said, answering one or both of us.

I just grunted at her because I didn't feel much like talking. In fact, I didn't ever want to talk about what just happened. Easier to just bottle that shit up and ignore it...until it followed you into the bathroom.

"The fuck, kid?!"

She lifted her chin. "He says yah not to be trusted to be alone rah-ght now."

Dammit, I knew she'd been listening to him. But as much as I hated to admit it, her staying in sight was probably the best thing she could do to calm me down. Just thinking of her sitting in the room where I couldn't see her, couldn't protect her, was making my knuckles itch.

Which was bullshit because the only thing she needed protection from right now was me. She took my pissed off silence as permission and plopped down on the toilet seat. I gave her my most terrifying glare, but she only giggled at me.

Goddammit. I turned on the shower to let the water warm up, but when I turned back around the kid was just swinging her legs and looking at me. I knew she'd seen me naked before, but somehow undressing in front of her seemed higher up on the pedo scale than being caught undressed and unaware in the shower. At least that hadn't been deliberate, on my part.

"Turn around kid, this ain't a show."

She blushed and closed her eyes. "Ah promise Ah won't peek."

I grunted again and took off my jeans. Shouldn't have even bothered to put the damn things on in the first place. She kept her eyes squeezed shut, but her head was tilted to the side again. I pulled back the curtain and tested the water. Lukewarm, tops.

"What's a Chip and Dale bar?"

I nearly slipped and fell on my ass getting in.

"Kid...the fuck?!" I asked for the second time.

"Ah'm sorry. A lady bumped into me at the gas station yesterday, an' I didn't see her coming, an' we both fell, an' I was scared, an'—"

"And what's she been saying about Chip and Dale bars?" I growled.

The curtain was clear enough that I could see her draw her legs up and wrap her arms around them. "She says...well, she says a lotta things."

"I needta track her down?"

"What? No—that wouldn't change what she says in mah head. 'Sides, he already made her shut up."

I relaxed a bit and reached for the shampoo. Bad enough she had me rattling around in her head, she didn't need some gas station floozy giving her ideas. And at least the me in her head seemed to be making the other assholes keep quiet.

The Wolverine started struggling again, trying to voice _his_ ideas, and I tilted my face back beneath the spray of lukewarm water. Maybe waterboarding myself wasn't the most psychologically healthy way to control the voice in my head, but it made him whimper and shut up.

"Where you wanna eat, kid?" I asked once he was quiet.

While she thought about it, I checked my internal clock to see if we would be eating lunch or dinner. Shit, it was a little after five, definitely dinner. I was fucking hungry too, so I knew the kid had to be starving.

Fuck, it had felt so much better when she washed my hair.

"Uhhmm, McDonalds?"

"I ain't taking you to Mickey D's for your goddamn birthday."

"Oh."

I had gone through this fight circuit before, and I knew the nearby McDonalds practically belonged in a third world country. Scratch that, I'd been in third world countries with better hygiene. There were a couple of nicer places on the other side of town though that I could take her to.

Better get her some new clothes first. Ones that didn't hang down when she bent over, showing off her—no, don't go there. She was just a little kid, and I would not think of her tits, which she barely even had, that's how young she was.

Small enough that I could probably fit my mouth around—

Shit, STOP.

I scrubbed at my skin harder than necessary and ignored the growing problem below my waist. I had already managed to sleep through most of her birthday, almost impale her, almost _rape_ her—

_A bit of dick in the mouth ain't rape, it's a "good morning."_

I stepped back under the water, letting it wash off the soap and spray against my face. If he didn't shut up, I would do it again with the washrag over my nose. Not that I was really trying to drown myself—I wouldn't die that easily—I just needed a healthy dose of brain damage every now and then.

"Logan?"

I opened my eyes. Shit, she had one hand on the edge of the curtain, and I hadn't even noticed her get up.

"Sit down, kid." I said, and she at least let go of the curtain, although she didn't obey.

"Yah ain't tryin' to hurt yahself, are yah?" She asked.

"No."

"Yeh a bad liar, Logan. An' he says yah do that sometimes 'cuz yah don't like him." She replied.

"Don't go feeling sorry fer him, he's an asshole." I snapped.

"I—no, I—gawd, fine. He says, 'Right back atcha, bub.' But he's real nice to me, an' yah shouldn't hurt yahself." She said.

"Turn around."

"Wha—"

"I'm getting out, turn around."

I didn't like talking about the animal in my head, and I hated hearing from him coming through her, another reminder that she had him prowling around in her head too. But at least it helped calm down my dick to the point that I thought it was safe to get out of the shower.

She was turned around when I got out, head down as she inspected the tiles at her feet. I should've told her to sit back down though, because now she was standing close enough that I loomed over her. I wasn't exactly tall either, but she looked tiny standing in front of me. I could just pull her back against my chest and wrap an arm all the way around her, she was so small.

I put my jeans on and stalked past her instead.

"Where's my shirt?" I barked.

She followed me out of the bathroom. "On the dresser."

I looked over and saw my shirt and wifebeater neatly folded, sitting on top of the dresser next to the TV and my belt. My socks and boots were neatly sitting on the floor in front of it. I put those on first, then my belt. Shirts and modesty were nice and all, but a good pair of boots could save a soldier's life. I tucked my wife beater into my jeans and put the shirt on last.

She was already waiting by the door when I looked up, wearing my tags and her gloves. She only took the gloves off when it was just the two of us, and I knew it was sick, but I took a twisted pleasure in knowing I was the only one she trusted to touch.

If I had my way, I would be the only man she ever touched.

**A/N: My chapters are finally in order! Hurray! I'm trying to crank more out so I'll have a couple stored up in case of the dreaded block of writers. This is my favorite story so far, so I'm trying really hard to put something up every Monday, and in the morning too instead of eight at night.**

**Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who has reviewed so far! My roommate and I are both Creative Writing majors, and when I told her I had over twenty reviews for four chapters, we did a happy dance.**

**So who wants to say "good morning" to Logan?**


	6. BYE

**A/N: I'm putting this note at the beginning because it's super important!**

**DO YOU WANT A CHAPTER FROM MARIE'S POINT OF VIEW, YAY OR NAY?**

**Vote with reviews.**

* * *

I took the kid to one of those bullseye stores that sells everything so she could get some new clothes. She didn't seem to understand why we were there, but she still trailed along behind me. I walked past the check out lanes with her following, then stopped and waited. She stood beside me and didn't move.

"Have at it."

She just looked up at me with her stupid eyes. Goddammit, I hoped I could just take her here and her womanly instincts would take over. I sure as fuck didn't know what to do, as proven by the jacket and shirt I'd bought her that were at least four sizes too big.

"You need new clothes, kid." I said, trying to make my voice patient and settling for gruff.

She glanced at the aisles, then back up at me. "What can I get?"

"It's your goddamn birthday, get whatever you want."

A matronly saleslady started walking up to us, and I settled my glare on her. She quickly changed directions to "help" someone else. Marie didn't seem to notice and walked into the women's clothing area, treading lightly like she expected something to jump out at her from behind the racks. It was playing hell with my own instincts, which were demanding I pull her close to me for protection and let out my claws.

Then fuck her to show her who she belonged to.

"Is this okay?"

She held up a long sleeved shirt. It must have been wool or some other natural fabric because it didn't smell fake. The color was dark enough to help her blend into the shadows and not draw attention to herself.

I nodded in approval.

She draped the shirt over her arm and continued looking. It suddenly became obvious that we'd need a cart soon. I'd have to leave her to go get one though, and the Wolverine was still trying to make me listen to my instincts.

"Imma get a cart. Stay in sight."

"Okay, sugah."

Shit, that southern drawl was not helping. All I could think about was whether her mouth tasted as sweet as her voice. Well...not all. I thought about what a lot of other places on her body would taste like too.

And then I was standing on the other side of the check out lanes, realizing that I had never actually used a shopping cart before, and I had no idea where they were. Never needed a shopping cart for the occasional shirt or pair of jeans.

"May I help you?"

It was a different saleslady from before, this new one drawn in by the scent of my confusion the way a vulture spots a sick animal.

"Cart." I said.

She blinked twice, her smile never wavering.

"I need a cart." I repeated.

"Oh, of course! Why didn't you just say so, silly?" She asked.

I did. That is literally what I just fucking said, you dumb cu—

"Here they are." She announced, presenting them like she was Vanna White.

But she was probably too young to get that refer—wait, shit. Was Marie too young for that? Almost definitely. Maybe I could get her something so she could watch whatever show that had been. Not that it would solve the actual fucking problem, and were those disc thingies called a DMV or DHS? I knew it was three letters and started with a D...

DUI?

Something was moving in my peripheral vision, and I looked over to see the saleswoman walking beside me like we were friends or something. I was about to tell her to fuck off, but then I caught a whiff of her scent and realized I wasn't the only one thinking about the D.

I stopped pushing the cart. "Thank you for your help."

"You're welcome."

I didn't reply, hoping she'd get the hint.

"Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Dammit.

"No."

"Anything at all?"

You could start by getting off my nuts.

"No."

"Oh, well...have a nice day."

She finally started to walk away, but she couldn't just let it go at that.

"Goodbye..." She called over her shoulder.

"BYE." I growled.

Which completely backfired when the arousal in her scent only got stronger. I tried to turn my cart around and walk away with as much dignity as possible, which was absolutely zilch when one of the wheels refused to turn and I practically had to drag the damn thing off.

I couldn't see Marie in the clothing department either, and my hands flexed on the handle. The metal twisted a bit, but the damn thing was already fucked up enough that I doubted anyone would notice. It didn't take long to find the kid either, which sort of helped my temper.

Except the reason that I couldn't see her was because she had bent over a display table to look at some clothes, and bent over a table was a damn fine look for her. I should bend her over something at least twice a day.

She leaned a bit too far forward and almost stumbled, so I placed my hand on her back to steady her.

"I thought I told you to stay in sight, kid."

"Ah did. Yah were just distracted bah that lady." She replied.

"You saw that?" I asked with a grimace.

She laughed and straightened. Without thinking, my hand automatically fell to the small of her back. She didn't push me away though, and I couldn't find the willpower to let go, so I gave in to part of the Wolverine's demands and kept my hand there.

"Ah thought she was gonna tackle yah any minute." She said.

I grunted. "Women are crazy."

"Even me?"

She looked up at me with those damn eyes, and I pulled her closer. I leaned a hip against the table and tried to play it cool though, like it was just a natural part of me shifting my weight.

"Weren't you the one who promised to hunt me down? Said something clever about dropping me too." I reminded her with a smirk.

She looked down at her feet and shuffled them. Her scent was suddenly tinged with misery, and I wasn't prepared for the wave of panic that hit me at the thought that I might have made her sad. She couldn't really think I thought she was crazy, could she? Sure, she could be a little spitfire when she got mad and she had more balls than most men, but that didn't make her crazy-crazy, like—

_Like hearing voices, crazy? Yeah, I bet she gets called that a lot, so way to go, asshole._

I looked down at the top of her head. I must have pulled her against my chest when the Wolverine briefly slipped his muzzle.

"I don't think you're crazy though." I muttered against her hair.

Which smelled like fucking sunshine and apples and heaven.

"Thanks." She smiled up at me and quickly changed the subject. "Do you like this one?"

I took a deep breath through my nose. The misery in her scent had faded, and I relaxed. Bullet dodged. Then I looked down at the shirt and tensed back up again. It was cotton, the fabric of death.

"What did you say?" She asked, her human ears unable to pick up my mutterings.

I cleared my throat. "Fabric of death. Get it wet, and it'll suck the body heat right outta ya."

"Oh. What kind should I get?" She sat the shirt back down and turned to me for my answer.

"Wool. Or...uhm..." I turned and looked around the racks of clothes until I spotted the right thing. "That stuff."

Like I fucking knew the name of it.

She looked where I pointed. "Polyester."

Whatever.

Marie picked out a few more things, none of them cotton. I wouldn't ever allow her to go cold or hungry, but winter was coming on, and I wanted her to be safe just in case.

She started to wander while I brooded about how protective I had gotten over her in such a short amount of time, and when she walked into a walled off portion of the department, I followed her inside to keep her in sight. She opened a door and walked into a tiny room, and I shouldered in after her. I glanced around the stall, trying to figure out what the damn thing was and why it had a mirror.

Marie turned around and took off her shirt.

I bolted out the door like the stall was on fire. The Wolverine alternated between growling in approval at her actions and howling in sexual frustration at mine.

She creeped out of the stall, looking worried and fully clothed once again. "Logan?"

"What the hell was that?" I gasped.

"...a changing room?"

"To change you into what, a stripper?!"

She raised an eyebrow at that, but didn't get mad again. "The clothes, sugah. Ah have to make sure they fit."

"Can't you just pick out your size and buy it?" I asked.

Marie just laughed the way all women know how to laugh when a man asks an incredibly stupid question and disappeared back into the sexual frustration death trap room. I sat on a nearby bench, stared at my knuckles, and tried to remember the last time I had felt this stupid.

Probably five years ago, at that Waffle House I had stumbled into when the waitress had to teach me how to eat without my hands because I had spent the last ten years before that relearning basic shit, like how to walk on two legs and what a car was. Eating with a fork hadn't been a big priority, and no one else had ever had the balls to call me out on it.

"What does this one look like?" Marie asked, coming out in a different shirt.

I had the deep suspicion that this question was some sort of trick designed to make me say something stupid again, but she looked at me like my answer meant a lot, so I tried to think of something.

"A shirt...?"

She pressed her lips together. "Yeeeessss, but how does it fit?"

The Wolverine jumped at the chance to openly leer at our mate, and I sure as hell took advantage too, looking her up and down and ignoring the shirt completely.

"Like it covers everything."

She opened her mouth, closed it, blushed, and looked away. I worried I had upset her again until the smell of her amusement hit me. Damn girl was laughing at me.

"My opinion is useless, isn't it?"

"Yeah." She at least looked apologetic.

I slouched back against the wall. "Just let me know when you're done."

"It's not yeh fault, sugah. Yeh just so..." She paused and sighed. "Male."

"Never had a complaint about that before." I muttered.

She blushed, looked me over, blushed even harder, and looked back at her feet. "Ah'm just...Ah'll...uhm..."

I slipped down sideways so I lay on my back on top of the bench and waved a hand in her direction. "Yeah, I'll wait."

The door slammed, and I started counting ceiling tiles. How long could it take her to try on a few shirts?

357...

358...

359...

I had finished the ceiling, so I moved on to counting the much smaller, inch wide squares on the patterned carpet. I almost had all of them within eyesight in all directions of the bench counted when there was a yelp and a thump from the changing room.

I smelled her blood, and I sort of lost it. One second I was the most bored I had ever been in the last fifteen years I could remember, and the next I was inside the dressing room, crushing Marie to me.

"Ah'm sorry! Ah'm so sorry, sugah! Ah just caught mah finger on a zipper, an' it tore off mah hangnail." She gasped out into my chest.

I grabbed the offered finger and glared at it. Blood trickled down the side from a rip in the skin, but it was so small, even I felt ridiculous for being worried about it, although I didn't really know what a hangnail was.

"Yer fine, kid. I'm just jumpy. I uh..." I let her go, but I couldn't force myself to actually leave.

"Yah can sit in the corner." She offered.

I tore my gaze from the door and looked at her.

"Ah...Ah mean, if yah want." She stuttered.

"Ya don't mind?"

It was my turn to shuffle my feet in the universal dance of awkwardness. I wondered if my emotions had been this wild before, swinging from fury to panic to lust, or if this was something only she ever brought out.

She just smiled, with only a hint of a blush. "Ain't nothing yah haven't seen before. Now sit."

I scowled. "I'm sitting because I was already planning to, not because you told me."

I sat.

"Yah just keep tellin' yahself that, sugah."

My legs were drawn up to give Marie more room, and I lifted my head up from where I had laid it on my knees to reply back. But then she patted my head, and I practically whimpered at the feeling of her fingers scratching just behind my ears, despite the gloves.

It wasn't my proudest moment.

She tried on approximately a thousand more shirts and pants and sweaters and things that go under shirts and things that go over shirts but aren't jackets and at least fifteen other things my tiny male mind couldn't comprehend.

I grunted and nodded a lot. The only time I actually said no to something was when she tried on a top that had sequins on it. I knew the type of guys who hung out at the places we went—hell, I was one of those guys. Sequins would only draw their attention and give the wrong impression.

We finally finished after an hour that lasted far longer than any hour had a right to last. She had chosen twelve shirts and five pants. It seemed like an entire fucking wardrobe to me, but they would all easily fit in the back of my truck, which I had already designated as her space anyway.

It had been two and a half weeks since her last cycle, and I knew her next one was coming up in around ten days or so, but I didn't know when we'd get a chance to stop again. We were already at the bullseye store, so I figured she could pick up some feminine things and maybe a new toothbrush while we were here. I thought it would only take a few more minutes.

I have never been so wrong.

* * *

**A/N: Just a heads up, the next "chapter" is actually just a note from me, talking about the Marie POV idea, pleading for reviews, and explaining what I want to happen to this fic in the future.**


	7. Author's Note

**A/N: I know it's not fair that I uploaded two chapters and got your hopes up like this, but this chapter is only an author's note. Sorry, but I have a lot to say, and I need YOUR feedback.**

**Imagine Uncle Sam pointing at you.**

**First, a repeat of my earlier message because it's super important:**

**DO YOU WANT A CHAPTER FROM MARIE'S POINT OF VIEW, YAY OR NAY?**

**I have a few ideas for it, but I definitely don't want as much of her POV as Logan's. I certainly don't have the time to post a tag along fic of everything solely from her POV, which I have seen done wonderfully before. If I only had the time... **

**I don't know if I should just do one from her POV every four or five chapters that only covers what's happening in that moment, or if her chapter should be a quick rerun of what already happened in the four or five chapters from Logan's POV, just in her voice instead of his.**

**Vote with reviews.**

**Also this chapter turned out to be the longest of them all, and they aren't even done shopping! I can't promise anything, but once I get the work schedule for my new summer job figured out, I think I'm going to start updating with much longer chapters. About twice as long, because everything keeps needing to be split up in the middle.**

**And can I just say, wow. So many reviews. I can't even be happy, I'm just too shocked. **

**There were some compliments on how I was developing Logan and Marie's relationship, and I'm just so glad you guys are enjoying it and think I'm doing a good job! I'm really trying to get their relationship formed in the most natural way possible before I start introducing the actual plot.**

**If any of you feel like, I came here to not study for finals and read smut, not read about Logan and Marie going grocery shopping! Let me know. Like I said, trying to focus on their relationship because far too many stories start out SO WELL with great Marie/Logan interaction, and then they try to add a bunch of drama and make them save the world, and suddenly their fic seems corny and forced.**

**But I promise you, way way way way waaaaaayyy down the road, there WILL be a plot, and it WILL slowly involve more X-Men and X-Enemies (is that a thing?). That's another reason for my goal of writing longer chapters: I want to get there faster. I only update once a week, and ain't nobody got time to wait three months for Logan and Marie to have sex.**

**I mean, for the..."plot."**

**And if anyone notices a major discrepancy (I have a tendency to overlook small details until they become REALLY important) or if you just have a question about the "world" I'm creating for Logan and Marie, ask away.**

**Also, I named this chapter BYE because I can just totally imagine Logan turning into a sassy black woman for five seconds to say that like, BYE. His black woman name would either be "Loquisha" or "Jaylo" (JamesxLogan) and I really need to stop writing and go to bed now...**

**Thanks for reading my rambles!**


	8. Pet Me

**A/N: So this is the maybe new length of my chapters. It really is almost twice as long and was an absolute bitch to write, but at least now I feel like we're kinda getting somewhere. Maybe next chapter we can FINALLY be done with Marie's birthday and get on to the really good stuff, like bar fights, nightmares, and toenail painting.**

**By the way, this story is renamed The Big Bad Wolf, and the Marie fic (more about that at the bottom A/N) is named The Bad Habit, and it's rated T for now.**

* * *

"Get some girl stuff while you're here. I don't wanna see another store ever again." I grumbled at the kid.

She glanced over at me. "Evah?"

"...least a coupla months."

We walked a bit further, and she somehow managed to push the cart without the wheels locking up and turning sideways. She looked at everything in the store but me.

"So bah girly stuff, yah mean..." She blushed and trailed off.

"I really don't want to hafta buy ya tampons again, kid." I said.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"Ain't yer fault. I shoulda smelled it comin', an—"

She stopped in the middle of the aisle and gaped at me in horror. "Yah can smell that?!"

I shrugged. "Yeah. Problem?"

"Wha—Ah...no. No problem. It's fahne, Ah'll just curl up in a ball of shame an' die. That's all." She said.

The panic came rushing back at her talk of dying, even though I knew she was just overreacting. Women are prone to that sort of thing.

"S'nothing to be ashamed of, it's just a part of a woman's body and growth and uh...repro—"

"Ah am not having this talk with yah." Her grip on the cart turned her knuckles white.

"Ya don't need to be embarrassed, kid. It's um, natural an' shit."

Marie rolled her eyes. "It ain't granola, Logan. An' Ah already had this talk with mah dad, puh-lease don't make me have it with yah."

I had eaten some shady ass tacos, raw meat torn from the bone with my bare fingers, hell, I even tried tofu for that one vegetarian contortionist. I had also seen broken bones sticking out of flesh, I knew what napalm did to the human body, and what it smelt like when someone's intestines were ruptured.

I'm not squeamish. But when Marie indirectly compared me to her father, I almost lost it and started gagging.

"Oh, look. Tampons." I said through gritted teeth. I never thought there would be a day when tampons would be the least awkward thing to talk about.

Marie just nodded and steered the cart into the aisle. It was even worse than the gas station I stopped at two weeks ago. That place only had two choices of pads or tampons, and I bought both. But here, all two thousand different kinds of "feminine hygiene products" took up an entire aisle. I wondered what all the stuff was even _for_, with their wings and guards and applicators. I thought an applicator was something on your phone.

The kid knew what she was doing though and picked out two boxes in less than a minute. I looked around the aisle while she put them in the cart and saw something called a moon cup. Was that like a D-cup or was moon a euphemism for something?

"Trying to pick something out for your wife?"

It was the saleslady, popping out from between the aisles like some sort of slasher horror movie. All she needed was an oversized meat cleaver.

"No."

"Oh, your girlfriend then?"

"No, I don't—" I noticed Marie had disappeared again, and it pissed me off. "Kid?"

The saleslady gasped. "You have a kid? That is just _so_ adorable!"

"She's...I'm not..." I stopped and concentrated on not gagging.

"You don't know what to get her?" The saleslady finished for me. "That's okay, I'll explain everything. This is a moon cup. Once inserted into the vagina, it works by blocking the vaginal canal so that the menstrual blood gathers in the cup. It needs to be taken out and emptied eve—"

"_Jessica, please report to aisle three, there's been a spill. Jessica to aisle three._"

There was a God, and he had mercy. The saleslady stopped talking when the intercom made its announcement, then looked back at me in apology.

"I'm sorry, that's me. I really have to go, but if there's anything else you need me to expla—"

"No." My teeth were clenched so hard I could hear the enamel grinding.

"Alrighty then. Have a nice day and good luck with your daughter!" She said before thankfully, _finally_ disappearing.

I held it together until she turned the corner, but the second she did, I stumbled away from the aisle. My claws dug into another rack and held me up while I gagged. Maybe it was a good thing I hadn't eaten yet.

"Oh mah gawd, sugah! Are yah okay?"

Marie was there, at eye level since I was leaning and—

_Marie. Mate. Good. Mineminemine._

Goddammit, the Wolverine always got like this when I held him back for too long. The animalistic grunts he sent through my mind were simpler than usual but more insistent.

"She...explained...moon cup." I gasped.

The kid's scent went from concern to barely contained amusement, and she pressed her lips together to hold in a giggle. I raised my lip at her in a snarl that was caught off by another dry heave. A bit more concern leaked into her scent, and she stepped closer, stroking a gloved palm up and down my back.

I pulled her against me and rested my forehead against her shoulder. It was all I could do to focus on not gagging again and resisting the urge to rub my cheek against her hair to put my scent on her.

_Mark. Claim. Protect._

"I'm fine, kid." I pulled back just enough to look her in the eye. "But if you wander off again, I'm throwing you in the goddamn cart and pushing you around myself. Understand?"

Her eyes were filled with nothing but sincerity. "Yes, Logan."

_MineminemineminemineMINE!_

"Was there something else you needed, kid?" I asked, straightening my back and ignoring the Wolverine's howls.

She seemed dazed for a moment before she nodded. "Uh huh. Ah wanted some shampoo 'cause the kahnd at the motels makes mah hair all frizzy."

"Alright, just get the travel sized bottle, kid." I said.

She gave me a bit of a look then, probably noticing it was the third time I called her kid in less than a minute. Because she was a kid, ya hear? A KID.

_MINE._

I leaned against the shelves filled with that awful smelling makeup crap women insisted on wearing. There were three good sized holes in it, thanks to the Wolverine. He snarled lowly at being blamed for that, but if he didn't take up so much of my mental energy, the saleslady's description wouldn't have affected me so much.

Because I was not squeamish.

And Marie was still debating over shampoo, like I fucking cared what her hair looked like. Frizzy, curled, or straightened, it didn't matter so long as it was spread out over the pillow while I fucked her into multiple screaming orgasms.

Shit, these jeans were tight. I looked away from her and tried to think of something else. Maybe I should tell her I didn't care what her damn hai—She was worried about what _I_ thought, right? She damn well better be, because if she was trying to look pretty for someone else...

My claws almost snicked out again before I got them under control, just barely. The fucked up part was that she didn't even have to try to look pretty, she looked so goddamn beautiful no matter what she wore or where she was, so that asshole could be in any one of the town's we'd stopped at and—

No, wait, fuck. Don't be stupid. We had only been in this town since last night, there was no way she could know anyone here. This was the first time she had even left the hotel room. Dammit, why did I have to be such a jealous asshole?

And why did she have to smell every single goddamn bottle of shampoo?

"Ya gonna make a decision?" I snapped.

She crinkled her nose at the latest bottle. "Sure thing, sugah. It's jus' that ever since Ah touched yah, Ah can smell a bit better. Ah figure if it smells bad to me, it must smell a lot worse to yah, an' Ah don't wanna give yah a headache because Ah smell like..."

She paused and checked the label with disdain. "Ahvocado and basil leaf. Ah can't decide if Ah hate it or wanna eat it."

I shut my mouth and swallowed. I had gone through a few longer lasting "relationships" before, the longest lasting a grand total of three days shy of a month. Each time, I had asked, then demanded, that the woman not wear perfume or use strong smelling body wash.

Because yes, it did give me a fucking headache. In fact, that last "relationship" had ended because I lost my shit and tore her bathroom to shreds when she refused to stop using soap that smelled like a strawberry that had been skullfucked by a stick of vanilla.

And my sweet little Marie had done it without even being asked.

_Miiiiiine, plea—_

No no no no no NO. The Wolverine does NOT whimper like a goddamn puppy and use the word "please." I couldn't ever remember using that word before in my life, and I sure as fuck wasn't about to start now.

_Marie. Good mate. Marie...so good...mine..._

His voice trailed off with another whimper, and I finally got my claws to retreat all the way back up into my forearms.

"Here, sugah. Smell this one." Marie said.

She offered me the small bottle, but I didn't need to walk over to her to smell it. I just inhaled through my nose, flaring my nostrils and scenting the air. It smelled like sour green apples, sweet but not sickeningly so. It would compliment her natural scent.

"Ah'll take that as a yes, then." She laughed.

I choked off the unconscious purr I had been making and cleared my throat. She laughed again and tossed the bottle in the cart, along with another I assumed was conditioner. I hoped she wouldn't try to get makeup now. She didn't need it, and the stuff tasted awful.

Not that I was going to be licking her face anytime soon, but just in case if some sort of strange situation came up...fuck it, I was a pervert, and I would happily lick her face in any situation.

"Anything else Ah should get?" She asked.

"Can't think of nothing, unless you just want something." I tried to block as much of the makeup shelf as I could.

She just hummed out a yes, smiled at me, and did some sort of voodoo magic to turn the cart around without making any one of its three janky wheels lock up. I followed behind her, enjoying the silence.

"So did Jessica traumatize yah?"

I frowned. "Who?"

"Jessica."

I just gave her a blank stare.

"The saleslady?"

I stopped and fought down another involuntary gag.

"Oh, mah bad, sugah. Ah guess that's another yes." She worried, patting my back again.

I threw my shoulders back and we kept walking. I wished I could get amnesia and forget that conversation. No male ever needed to know that much about women and their...stuff.

It was silent for about another minute before Marie spoke up again.

"She seemed to lahke yah."

I shrugged. "Lotta women like me."

"Do yah like women?"

I stopped walking so quickly I almost tripped over my feet. "What?"

"Ah'm sorry, Ah shouldna asked that. It's none of mah business, Ah jus' wondered 'cause yah've said some stuff but Ah've nevah seen yah with one, an' Ah—"

Her entire face had turned red, and she dropped her gaze to her feet. "Ahmma shut up now."

"Has...uh...he...never said anything 'bout...that...to ya?" I stumbled through the question.

And there was a lot to be said. _A lot_, a lot. I may have forgotten how to use a fork, but I could use my dick just fine, and I'd had fifteen years to fuck my way across two countries. She really did not need to know about that.

Not unless she was into that sort of thing—but she wasn't, because she was a kid, and hearing about all that would probably just made her scared or insecure or some other bullshit.

She shook her head. "He doesn't talk about that stuff tah me. He hardly evah talks about yah. Jus' says yah'll protect me. Mostly he jus' yells at evah-ryone else."

"Good." I growled.

"Ah'm so—"

"Ain't ya fault at all, kid. Yah just don't needta hear 'bout that shit or ever worry 'bout it." I muttered.

"I can get you over here, sir!" A voice called.

I looked over and it was what's-'er-face, Jennifer or something. Her lane was the only one without five other people in line, and I had the paranoid suspicion she'd opened it just for me. Marie pushed the cart into the open lane, but I grabbed her hand when she reached for the clothes. My hand covered hers almost completely.

"Pick out what you want to wear tonight." I ordered, reluctantly releasing her hand.

She chose a pair of dark wash jeans and a black top. I shoved them in the direction of Jackie and muttered at her to ring those up first. She beeped them up, and I gave them back to Marie.

"Go change in the bathroom, then come right back here."

"Mmkay, sugah." She said.

I tried not to stare at her ass as she left. It was covered by the oversized coat I had bought her anyway.

"Aw, she calls you sugar." Jess cooed.

I clenched my jaw and nodded, trying not to let out the growl building in my chest. It must not have worked though because her scent spiked with fear. But that didn't stop her from leaning over and showing as much cleavage as possible through her uniform.

Marie wouldn't act like that, like one of those fight groupies that liked rough men and even rougher sex. All the shirts she chose had long sleeves and high collars. The new clothes would look nice on her. Look even better on the floor.

Julie kept trying to make small talk, but I only answered with glares and grunts. Marie came back from the bathroom just as I finished paying. I grabbed my bags and walked toward her, but she frowned and waved her hand to stop me.

"Yah gotta put the cart back, Logan." She said.

"I'll get it for you, Logan." Jane said, trying to purr my name in a way she thought was sexy. It sounded annoying and fake.

I just grunted and turned to face Marie, who looked so fucking fuckable in her new clothes. She tried to reach for a bag, and I grinned and kept them out of her reach. Like I was going to let her carry anything. I'd carry her too if she'd let me.

She tried to make another grab for them, but I angled my body away from her and then she was pressed up against my side, looking up at me with a pout that should be illegal. Maybe I should learn new words to describe her than _fucking fuckable_. But the Wolverine didn't use words like adorable either.

Damn this girl was making me soft.

"C'mon Logan." She whined.

And hard.

"Ah can carry one bag."

I used my free hand to gently push her off of me before I did something stupid. Her eyes narrowing was the only warning I got before she lunged at me again. I didn't want her to slip and hurt herself, so I grabbed her shoulder and held her back. She kept coming though, and I had to tightened my grip to keep her still. My hand was so large, my thumb brushed over her pulse.

My hand nearly wrapped around her throat, but she still struggled against me, refusing to submit and accept my Alph—

Fuck, she was struggling, using all of her meager strength to try to fight me off. I let go of her so fast that one of her blows actually managed to hit my arm away. She stood in front of me, heaving with the effort.

_She's our mate! Make her submit! Mark her, claim her, fu—_

I backpedaled up against the wall of the store, inhaling deeply as I tried to regain control. Her scent smelled triumphant. My eyes snapped up to meet hers, and the satisfaction in her eyes abruptly faded.

"Yah let me win!" She accused with a huff.

I tried not to gape at her. "Yeah, I fucking did! I ain't gonna choke you out in a goddamn parking lot! Are ya tryin' to get me arrested?"

"But Ah was the one attacking yah!" She protested, looking worried for the first time since our "fight."

Relief flooded my system now that I was certain she hadn't been scared or hurt. She looked so indignant too, like she could have actually hurt me if she wanted to. The image of a soaking wet kitten hissing at me popped into my mind, and I slumped against the wall as I shook with laughter.

"Don't yah dare laugh at me!"

She stomped right up next to me, poking a finger into my chest and looking just as fierce as the wet kitten I imagined. I managed to stop laughing, but I couldn't drop the lazy grin on my face. She crinkled up her nose at me in anger—

Alright, fuck it, that was adorable.

—and whirled away with another huff. I pressed my palms against the wall to stop myself from grabbing her when she walked away and contented myself with leering at her again. Most of the time she crept around like she was ready to run at any second, but now that she was mad, she stomped like her boots could crack the asphalt.

It only took a few of my loping strides to catch up with her shorter ones, but I let her stomp ahead of me. I reached out and tugged on her hair though, just wanting to feel her. Hair wasn't a body part, so touching it didn't make me a pedophile.

She let out an annoyed burst of air through her mouth that sounded less like a huff and more like a growl. An attempted growl. Made by a kitten. She didn't even toss her head and try to pull away, so I took full advantage and kept running my fingers through her hair. I hoped she didn't realize I was petting her.

It calmed me and the Wolverine though, and even her too. By the time we reached my truck, I was practically guiding her along by the back of her head. I'd remember this the next time I pissed her off.

I leaned down next to her ear. "Get in, kid."

She looked up at me and blinked, like her eyes had been closed. Like she had completely trusted me to guide her through an unknown place. Then she remembered she was mad at me and pulled the truck door open.

Which I should have done for her, dammit. But the door swinging open forced her to take a step back before she could get in, and the back of her was pressed against the front of me for a second before she got in and slammed the door. I got in on the other side and finally gave the bags to Marie. I tried to smell the air to check if she was still mad at me without her noticing, but she must have caught on because she stuck her tongue out at me.

"Ah ain't mad, sugah. Ah jus—" Her stomach interrupted her with a loud growl.

I took the keys back out of the ignition and glared at her. "Have ya even eaten today?"

Of course she hadn't fucking eaten, I kept her in bed until nearly five. Kid must be starving, and I kept forgetting she couldn't just skip meals and sleep the way I could.

"Next time ya get fucking hungry, ya let me know so I can fucking feed ya." I snarled.

"Well Ah wasn't all that hungry 'til Ah started movin' around an' doin' stuff." She mumbled.

"Don't wanna hear it, kid. It's my job to feed an' protect ya an' I—"

"Ah think yeh doin' a great job, Logan. Ah jus' didn't want tah wake yah when yah were sleepin' so well." She said, laying a hand on my arm.

I wished her damn glove wasn't on so I could feel her skin. Her touch calmed me back down though, but I still didn't know how to respond. She shouldn't have to worry about my goddamn nightmares. I jabbed the keys back into the ignition and the motion dislodged her hand. But I put on my seatbelt as I drove out of the parking lot, because I knew she worried about all that safety shit.

The cab was silent while I tried to work out how to apologize for just generally being an asshole. Not for anything I said, because it was true, and she needed to learn to come to me for shit like that. She was my mate, but I wasn't a goddamn mindreader. I probably could have said it better though, so that she knew I just wanted her to be happy.

Words, dammit.

I shifted gears when we hit traffic. I preferred manual to automatic because I wasn't a pussy. The light turned green, and I started to shift gears again, but Marie put her bare hand on mine. I didn't even notice when she took off one of her gloves, and the skin to skin contact I craved made my brain short out for a second. The engine stalled when I forgot to hit the clutch, and she jumped at the noise and pulled her hand away.

I growled at the loss.

"Ah'm sorr—"

"Dammit kid, don't—"

Stop. Don't stop touching me, ple—

_Pleeeease. Jest fucking say it, she's our mate, she's good, so good...ours..._

"—nevah again, Ah pro—"

Shit, she thought I didn't want to touch her, and I didn't know how to stop her apologies. She smelled nervous again, so close to being afraid. That should have stopped me from trying to touch her, but it only made me want to do it more. I grabbed her hand tight enough that she couldn't pull away again, and it at least stopped her damn sorries.

"I ain't good at apologizing, Marie." I muttered.

She blinked and her mouth opened in a little O. I glared back at the road. Sometimes I just couldn't look at her because her face was just too...

I really needed better words to describe her than _fucking fuckable_.

"It's alrahght, sugah. Ah get cranky when Ah'm hungry too. Ah think we'll both be happier after we eat." She said.

I still didn't know what to say to her, so I kept my mouth shut. She tugged on her hand, and I eased my grip just enough for her to pull it free. She surprised me by placing her hand on top of mine though, which I guess made sense because it allowed me to keep shifting gears. She didn't say nothing else, and I didn't either, although I nearly bit my tongue off when she started tracing her gingers along my knuckles.

I fucking loved it when women played with my hands or scratched my arms. All that hardware in there was sensitive, but Marie'd found out about the downside of them being so sensitive the hard way. The few women who did dare to mess with my hands and arms were the mean sort of hookers who scratched instead of...whatever Marie was doing to me.

Petting, maybe. I expected her touching me to turn me on, and it kind of did, but it relaxed me a lot too.

By the time we pulled into the parking lot at Outback, I was biting my tongue again, this time to keep from purring. The Wolverine was a lot quieter too, and had stopped whining about mates and mating. It felt good not to have his constant bitching in the back of my mind.

"We gonna get outah the car, sugah?"

_No, we're just gonna sit here doing nothing like dickwads for another five minutes._

I can put that muzzle right back on ya, bub.

"Or do yah need a few more minutes to talk?" She asked.

"Fuck no. In fact, he's about to lose his speaking privileges again." I growled.

I almost got out of the truck before I remembered about that door opening thing again.

"Stay here."

Her hand dropped from the handle, and she gave me a questioning look, but she stayed put. I got out and walked around. I'd never bothered to open doors for women 'cause they got their own damn arms, but seeing her sitting there all obedient and waiting on me was something I could get used to.

She blinked at me and giggled when I opened her door.

"Whah Ah do declarah!" She drawled in an overly thick Southern accent, placing a splayed hand against her chest. "Ah'll make a Southern gentleman outtah yah, yet."

I rolled my eyes. "Just get outta the damn car."

She offered me her hand, and I took it without really knowing what she wanted me to do with it. But she used my hand for balance as she climbed down, then smiled up at me, still holding my hand.

"Thank yah."

I grunted and pulled her along behind me. It wasn't that we were holding hands, it's just that neither of us felt like letting go. I sure as hell didn't. We walked up to the restaurant, but her footsteps slowed down until I stopped beside her.

"Is this where we're eating?" She asked me.

"Yeah."

Why the fuck else would we be here?

"Oh, Ah...Ah just..."

"F'ya don't wanta eat here..." I muttered.

She looked up at me with wide eyes. "No, Ah really do! Ah jus' didn't really expect something so...nice."

"Told ya I wasn't taking ya to no dump like McDonalds, kid."

She nodded and looked at her feet. I tried to think back on exactly what I'd said earlier. That was what I said, wasn't it? But women had the damndest habit of making shit up in their heads and then bitching at you for it.

"What, ya thought I wasn't taking ya anywhere?" I asked, trying to keep the growl out of my voice.

"Well, yah said—"

"Well, I _meant—_"

"Shit Logan, Ah'm not a mindreader!"

Her eyes went wide again, and she clapped her free hand over her mouth. Her blush spread damn near to the tips of her ears, and it made it hard for me to be angry at her for swearing at me. I even felt a sort of selfish relief that she didn't know what she was doing either.

"Neither am I, kid. So next time, ya gotta fucking tell me if ya don't understand the shit I say. Got it?" I waited until she met my eyes again and nodded. "Good. An' don't swear."

She dropped her head again. "Yes, Logan."

_Good little Marie-mate. So fucking obedient an—_

Shut it.

I pulled her back toward the restaurant again, before people started to stare any more'n they already were. I even held open the door for her, mainly because of the way I stood forced her to walk under my arm and brush against my chest as she went by. I breathed in her scent again, checking for what felt like the billionth time today that she was okay.

Teenage girls were fucking stressful. Made me remember why I never went for jailbait before and why I was too chickenshit to have any sort of real conversation with her for nearly a month. I sort of regretted the lost time though, even though the most I usually spoke to women was to ask if they were on the pill.

Marie walked ahead of me, and I placed an arm around her shoulders to let everyone know who she belonged to before I even realized what I was doing. She didn't pull away though.

"How many?" A lady standing at a podium asked.

How many what? Steaks I was going to eat? This was a steak place, right?

"Two, please." Marie said when I didn't answer.

The lady began typing on something I couldn't see. "Alright, that'll be about a fifteen minute wait. And the name?"

"Logan."

I didn't know why the fuck that lady needed one of our names, but I liked that Marie used mine. Because that's what she was—mine.

"Here you go, we'll call you when your table is ready." The lady tried to hand a black disc to Marie, but I took it instead.

The fuck was this thing?

_Bite it!_

I was pretty certain it wasn't going to explode or anything, but I would be damned if I let Marie hold it, just in case if it did. Marie seemed to recognize the whatever-it-was and generally know what she was doing, so I let her lead me to a bench up against the wall.

The Wolverine didn't follow other people, but she was our—

_Marie-mate-mine!_

—so maybe one exception, one time wouldn't hurt. Just for her.

She sat down on the side of the bench closest to the door, and I could tell she wanted me to sit next to her, but I stayed standing and leaned against the wall instead. If anyone came through the door, they would have to go through me to get to her. And that wouldn't happen because my claws would go through them first.

And I still held the maybe-bomb-device, just in case.

"Thank ya for takin' me here, sugah." Marie said, smiling up at me. "This was always mah favorite place to eat before—"

Her smile dropped mid sentence, and she looked away. I wanted to know what the before was, and who had dared to hurt my little Marie, but I didn't want to upset her again. That hair touching thing calmed her down the last time, so I reached out and patted her head. It felt awkward at first, but her hair felt so soft wrapped around my fingers that soon we were both relaxed by the act.

I leaned down next to her and tugged softly to get her attention. "Gotta take a piss."

She froze, and I wondered if maybe there were some things I should keep to myself, even if I was trying to talk to her more. Then she burst out laughing so hard she snorted and fell over sideways on the bench, still giggling uncontrollably.

I let go of her hair and glared down at her, but I couldn't smell any sort of mockery in her scent, just amusement and happiness. It didn't make any kind of sense to me, but at least she wasn't upset. She gave me a half wave in a shooing motion, but I stayed where I was.

"Go." She finally gasped out. "Ah promise Ah'll stay rahght here an' wait for yah."

And then she started giggling again, hands over her mouth as she tried to stop. I gave a growl low enough that only she heard and stalked over to the men's bathroom. I would never understand teenage girls.

The circle-plastic-thing didn't explode while I took a leak, but when I came back out of the bathroom, some pretty boy rich kid wearing a motherfucking _scarf_ was sitting on the bench next to MY Marie. The Wolverine howled for his blood and demanded that we fight for our mate. But this was a restaurant, not the wild, so I tried to push down that urge and settled for scaring the ever loving fuck out of him instead.

"—at the bar and tell me a bit about yourself." The fuckwit said as I walked up to them, feeling my claws slide forward in my arm. He didn't see me because he was turned practically sideways in the bench to hover next to Marie, who had scooted as far away from him as physically possible.

Good girl.

"I'm a mutant with toxic skin that will put you in a coma if you touch me."

Shit. Fuckwit and I both paused in shock at that one. I'd seen a glimpse of it before when she was really mad at me, and it looked like my sweet little Marie had a mean streak.

"I uh...I think I hear my uh...friends calling...me." Fuckwit stuttered, getting up from the bench and nearly walking into to me.

I sent him scurrying away with a snarl that showed off my teeth. Should've shown him my claws too. Introduced them to his large intestine. Marie looked up at me and gave a bitter smirk.

"Think Ah scared 'im more, sugah." She whispered.

It only took two steps for me to reach the bench and pull her into my lap. She didn't resist at all and even nuzzled my chest. I was glad podium lady wasn't here, not that it would have stopped me if she was. I just didn't want to get us kicked out on her birthday.

"Ya want me to strangle him with that fucking scarf?" I asked.

"No." She mumbled.

I didn't want to scare her, so I dropped it. I was pretty sure if she knew I really would kill for her, it wouldn't go over very well.

"Be a waste of a perfectly good scarf. Ah like scarves."

Fuck me if my Marie wasn't full of surprises. The Wolverine purred in satisfaction that she didn't flinch at our savagery or try to take his side.

"How 'bout I take the scarf off first, then gut'im."

"Nah sugah. Stupid boy ain't worth the blood stains."

Could snap his neck, but I figured I'd pushed it far enough. And she had done a damn good job at shooting him down herself, my tough little spitfire.

"Wolvie says he don't mind Ah'm so mean, but do yah?" She asked, mumbling the question into my chest.

It took me a second to figure out who she was talking about. "You call him _Wolvie_?!"

The Wolverine didn't know whether to be pissed at what would be disrespect coming from anyone else or pleased that our mate had given him his very own petname. Since when the fuck did either of us do petnames?

Sugar didn't count. That was sexy.

"An' no, ya—yer a good kid, Marie." I finally said.

"Mah Aunt Martha always said Ah was spiteful."

"Was she fat?"

Marie looked up at me. "How'd yah know?"

"Her name is Martha, and she's probably a cunt."

She giggled and placed her head back on my chest. "Yeah, she kinda is. But she's rahght."

I growled and opened my mouth to say something, but Marie cut me off.

"When mah parents told me tah be gone bah the morning..." She trailed off, and I forced myself to stay relaxed when all I really wanted to do was hunt the fuckers down. "Ah took all the lahght bulbs and the spark plugs from their car 'cause Ah wanted them tah sit at home, in the dark, and _miss me_, dammit!"

I buried my hand in her hair and pulled her head up to tell her how strong and fierce she was, but then the black-disc-thingie started buzzing and flashing lights to signal it was about to explode.

* * *

**A/N: And then the buzzer blew them both up and they died, THE END. Lol, poor Wolvie. This is why you can't go nice places, Logan.**

**Also, I had a lot of people say that while they would really enjoy chapters from Marie's POV, they still liked Logan better. I had planned on just doing Marie every few chapters or so, but I ended up rewriting the first few chapters completely from Marie's POV. I would like to put them up, but I don't want to just drop them all in the middle after this chapter. And I _really_ don't want to try to rearrange my chapters again to fit them in after their respective Logan chapters.**

**Therefore, my solution is to start an entirely new story, which I really don't have time for, but my muse has assured me I don't need sleep or a social life anyway. This new story (The Bad Habit) is now up! It updates every Wednesday, and until I get it caught up with this story, every Friday too. Once the two are caught up, this one will update Monday,**** then on Wednesday, The Bad Habit will update with Marie's POV. However, I make ABSOLUTELY NO PROMISES about the regularity of the Marie fic. This Logan fic is still my favorite, and if I only have time to write for one, I'll write for this one.**

**Please go read the Marie story and let me know what you think! Do you like Marie, do you like hearing from her, or are you confused by this setup?**


	9. Birthday Dinner

Before I could push Marie away from the bomb, she climbed into my lap and grabbed my face with both hands.

"It's not going to explode!" She whispered, quiet enough that the people waiting around us couldn't hear. "It's alrahght, Logan. The buzzing jus' means our table is ready."

We hadn't blown up yet at least, and no one else was panicking over the black disc suddenly buzzing and flashing. But why the fuck did we need this thing to tell us our table was ready? Couldn't podium lady just come back and fucking tell us instead of damn near giving me a heart attack?

And how much was that asshole talking to Marie that she knew exactly what I was thinking?

_Hey, I ain't the fucktard that tried to leave her, bub. She probably likes me better'n you._

Podium lady came back and picked up a set of menus. "Logan, table for two?"

Her eyes settled on us and widened for just a second before she cemented on her fake smile. Marie slid out of my lap like it was nothing out of the ordinary at all, like I hadn't almost freaked out about something that was apparently just another piece of technology that I didn't understand. I followed her lead and didn't react to the whispers around us, although when pretty boy and his friends tried to snicker at us, I threw an arm around her shoulder and shot them a snarl with full teeth.

Pretty boy did the right thing and shut his goddamn mouth before I had to rip his jaw out.

"Will a table be okay?" Podium lady asked.

"No. Booth."

She changed directions without any more questions and led us to a booth in the back corner. I gave her a half nod of thanks for that and gently pushed Marie over to the side that sat against the wall. She kept her head down and sat automatically.

"Is this alright?"

I tore my eyes away from Marie. "Yeah."

"Your server will be right with you."

I just grunted in response to that and went back to looking at the kid. She still smelled upset and angry and sad and about twenty other emotions. Goddamn women and their emotions, but I couldn't even be annoyed with her the way I usually was when women tried to talk about their feelings and shit. I just didn't know how to make it stop. This was supposed to be her goddamn birthday, and she'd been more upset today than she'd been in the past month.

"Ah'm sorry."

"What?"

_Real smooth answer, bub._

"Yeh doing something really nice for meh, and Ah'm jus' sitting here feeling sorry for mahself. Ah don't know what's wrong with meh today." She said, giving me a wavery smile.

"Not a damn thing." I growled before I thought about it.

This time she gave me a confused look. "What?"

Well shit, might as well follow through.

"There's not a damn thing wrong with ya, kid." I said.

Marie clapped a hand to her mouth to cut off a sob as she started crying.

_Now lookit what ya did, ya jackass! Make her stop!_

Shit, I don't know how, if you have any ideas...

Images immediately filled my mind. Me reaching across the table and pulling her back into my lap, where she belonged. Nuzzling against her, pushing my scent on her, marking her. Holding her to my chest and grinding up against her until her tears stopped and her moans started. Bending her over this table like the way she had bent over the one at the store and taking her until she knew she was worthy of being my mate.

"Kid, Marie...don't..."

But I couldn't do any of those things, not even the first one. Because if I started with one, I knew I wouldn't be able to stop until I finished them all, so I kept my hands to myself.

"No, no." She waved her free hand at me and sniffled back her tears. "Ah'm okay, Ah'm sorry, Ah'm jus'...Ah think that's the nah-cest thing anyone's evah said tah meh."

"Damn kid, what kinda shit people ya been around?" I demanded.

Telling her that there isn't something fucking wrong with her...that wasn't something nice, that was just...fuck, _mandatory_. She should've never even questioned it in the first place.

She winced a bit, but gave me an almost apologetic smile past wet eyes. "Mah parents were religious."

"Oh."

She giggled softly at that and mimicked the way my lip had curled back. "Yeah. _Oh_."

"Hi, my name is Jeremy, I'll be your server, and I—oh, are you alright, miss?" The waiter boy asked.

"Ah'm fine. Allergy season, yah know?" Marie said, sniffling again.

Waiter boy nodded. "Oh yeah. I mean, I don't know, but I have friends who have allergies. If you want, I can see if I can find you some Benedryl or—"

"She said she's fine." I interrupted with a growl.

Waiter boy looked at me with wide eyes like he was just now seeing me. It was hard to see anything else around Marie. But now that he noticed me, I made damn sure he saw my arms flex and fixed him with a glare I knew was slightly golden. Not many humans actually recognized it as the glare of a predator, but most had enough meager instincts left to know they should back down when they saw it.

"Oh...then, um..." His gaze dropped to his feet.

Looks like waiter boy had them.

"What can I get for you to drink, sir?" He finally managed to ask.

"Molson's."

"We uh...we don't actually have that."

I let a bit more gold leak into my glare. "This ain't Canada?"

"Well yes, but you see...uh, this is an American chain restaurant and um...we have Canadian Club whiskey?" He stuttered.

I wasn't looking to drink whiskey on the kid's birthday, but I'd be damned if I drank some pansy ass American beer.

"Water." I snarled.

Fuck this place. Their steak had better be damn good, and I mean. Damn. Good. Waiter boy nodded so fast it looked like he might save me the trouble and accidentally snap his own neck.

"And you, miss?"

Marie's eyes had dried up and she smiled like nothing had ever be wrong. I wondered how and why she learned to do that, and it made my knuckles itch.

"Ah'll have an ah-ced tea, with a slah-ce of lemon, please." She said.

Well her accent was still going strong, which only really came out like that when she was upset, so she probably wasn't over it yet. It was strange, knowing something like that about another person. I wasn't used to caring.

"Yeah, I'll have that right out." Waiter boy said, already starting to back away before he was even finished.

"Yah could jus' bah a cooler an' keep a pack of Molson's in there." Marie said when he had left.

I felt like I had just been struck by genius. Fifteen goddamn years, and I hadn't thought of that?! She looked up at me from the menu and let out a shocked laugh at the look on my face. I didn't even mind her laughing at me I was so glad to hear it.

"You want your own thing?" I asked.

She looked back down at the menu and hummed in thought. I'd always just ordered a shit ton of whatever sounded good and fed her off of my plate, but maybe she'd rather get something for herself. Fuck, it was hard to think of someone else. I'd never done this shit before, and it was just a hell of a lot easier to go on instinct instead of trying to figure out how normal humans acted.

"Ah figured yah'd get steak..." She glanced up at me for confirmation and continued when I nodded. "But Ah'm thinking 'bout the baby back ribs. That alrahght?"

I shrugged. "Get whatever. S'your birthday."

She smiled at me again, this time without any sniffles or held back tears. I sure as fuck wasn't the religious type, but I sent out a small prayer to the universe asking for her mood swings to be over. If she kept at it, I'd still do whatever I could to make it right, but I'd never really done emotions before. This little girl was wearing me down worse than a cage match ever could.

Marie gave me another smile, one hand fiddling with my dog tags. Staring at her probably wasn't going to help, but they looked so fucking good, hanging around her neck like that. She'd even kept them out over her shirt, so everyone could see she's mine. It was all I could do not to damn near purr with satisfaction.

"Yah don't mind, do yah? 'Cause Ah can jus' keep 'em somewhere else if ya—"

She started to take them off, and the Wolverine burst out with a growl before I could stop it. Her hand froze and then slowly lowered my tags back down to her chest.

_Ya keep those damn tags on, Marie. Yer MINE._

"Or Ah could keep them on." She said, making me wonder again how much of the Wolverine she was getting.

I swallowed. "Shit kid, I didn't meanta snarl at ya like that."

"No, Ah..." She shook her head and frowned. "When people get angry, they say mean things. Yah've yelled an' growled some, but yah ain't never been cruel. Yeh a lot better than yah think."

Waiter boy slid up to our table before I could wrap my mind around her words. "One iced tea with a lice of lemon and one um, water. Here's your bread, sorry for the delay."

Maybe I was wrong and she didn't have that much of the Wolverine in her head. 'Cause if she did, if she knew what he thought, what I was capable of, hell—what we'd _done—_she wouldn't say that. Waiter boy set our drinks and a loaf of bread on the table, and the movement snapped me out of my thoughts. He took a half step back when I turned my glare back at him, but Marie didn't notice.

"Ah think we're ready to order now." She finally looked back up from her menu, and I tried to look normal and keep the Wolverine shoved down. "Rahght, sugah?"

I couldn't resist a smirk at the endearment. "Yeah."

"Alright, what can I get for you?" Waiter boy asked, his gaze flickering nervously between the two of us.

"Steak."

He just looked at me and blinked like I was speaking fucking Chinese.

"He'll have the..." Marie paused and slid her finger down the menu. "...eight ounce rib-ah steak...hmm...medium rare. Yah want a sah-de?"

"Can I get more steak?"

She grinned. "No, sugah. Alrahght if Ah steal it then?"

"S'fine." I grunted.

"A sweet potato with honey butter an' brown sugah." She finished.

I raised an eyebrow at that, and she blushed. My eyebrow quirk did a lot of things to women, but making them blush was not one of them. Course, the type of women I usually hung around weren't the type of women to blush, so maybe it was just different with the kid.

"And do you want soup or salad?" Waiter boy asked.

I bit back another growl. "Fuck if I care, I just want my goddamn steak."

Waiter boy's eyes widened, and he leaned back away from me again. But before he could start apologizing or crying or pissing himself, Marie broke in again.

"Please ignore him. He jus' gets a bit cranky without his Molson's." She said. "The Ceasar salad will be fahne. An' Ah'll have the baby back ribs."

I hoped she ordered the salad for herself, because there was no way in hell I would be eating that leafy shit. I hated leafy shit.

"I'll have that right out." Waiter boy said, taking our menus and running away with his tail between his legs again.

Marie reached for the bread and cut herself a slice, spreading butter on both sides. Kid could probably use the calo-whatsits. I tried to take care of her and get her fed, but she still looked pretty scrawny. Helluva lot better than when I first found her, so maybe she would fill out some more in time. She finished her slice of bread and started fiddling with her straw.

I should say something. Talk about something she liked or make a joke or tell her how hungry she made me with that smudge of butter still on her lip. I tried to think of what I said the last time I talked to a woman, but I couldn't come up with anything.

I remembered doing lots of things with lots of different women, but talking wasn't one of them. They didn't exactly want me for my charming personality and I sure as hell didn't take them to dirty hotel rooms or a convenient back alley to make small talk.

But I wanted to do that with Marie. Talk. I just didn't know what to talk about. I had an entire month to figure out what she liked and what she didn't, and I hadn't talked to her at all because I didn't know my dick from my elbow when it came to talking to women. It never mattered before. If some bitch got pissed and threw her drink in my face, there were three more fight groupies waiting in line. But Marie wasn't just replaceable like that, and I couldn't risk fucking things up with her.

A straw wrapper hit me straight in my forehead. Marie's mouth hung slack around her straw and her eyes widened in shock. I just sat there and stared back at her.

"Ah...Ah'm so...s-so—" A giggle slipped out, but she pressed her lips together until it stopped. "Ah really didn't meantah..."

She looked down at the crumpled straw wrapper laying on the table and started giggling again. I raised my eyebrow at her, and she outright laughed. I took her up on her challenge, gabbed my straw, and tore off one end. She raised her hands in front of her face in mock defense, still laughing, as I blew my own straw wrapper at her.

Mine must have had a hole in it though, because the wrapper just barely cleared the end of the straw and floated limply down to the table a scant inch in front of me. We both stared at it until Marie burst into hysterical laughter that shook all the way through her body and she collapsed sideways on her bench.

I let out a huff. She kept laughing. I crossed my arms. She peeked over the table and giggled again. Finally she sat up and smothered down her giggles long enough to look me in the eye with a completely serious expression.

"Ah am so sorry, sugah."

"Liar." I grumbled.

She just grinned. I fake glared at her, but I couldn't hold the angry look for long, looking at her with her rumpled hair, wide smile, and my dog tags hanging around her neck. Then we were just looking at each other, and I knew people got freaked out when I stared at them for too long, but I couldn't find a way to make it stop. I was the Alpha, and I wouldn't look away first, but I started to feel awkward for the first time in my short memory.

"Does he still talk to ya?" I asked.

_What the fuck?! Ya really think she wants to talk about the voices in her head on her goddamn birthday?_

I couldn't think of anything else!

She nodded. "A lot. He hasn't faded like the...um, the others."

"Sorry, kid." I muttered. "If he's been sayin'..."

I trailed off and swallowed again. I could think of a lot of things he could be saying to her, the sort of things he said to me, whispering in her head what I wanted to do to her. I couldn't imagine him leaving her alone, but that couldn't be true either because she hadn't tried to run yet. And if she knew even a sliver of what sort of filth ran through our heads every second of every day, she'd run screaming.

"He doesn't talk about yah." She said, shaking her head. "Not 'bout any of yah memories, yah family or women...nothin'. An' Ah don't ask. Ah won't evah...if yah want me tah know, yah'll tell meh."

I relaxed just enough to keep breathing. If he wasn't talking about women, maybe he really wasn't telling her things she was way too young to know. And I was damn glad she wasn't getting any of my memories. I didn't want her to see what type of person I'd been over the past fifteen years, and I couldn't handle it if I knew I'd given her all my nightmares and the half remembered shit of the even worse person I'd been before.

"Do Ah..." She didn't seem to notice the way her hand gripped my tags. "Ah know yah said yah wouldn't leave, but...he still knows we're pack mates, rahght?"

"Yeah."

He damn well knew we were far more than just pack mates, and he howled in my mind, demanding that I tell her the truth, she was our mate, she would always be ours, forever. She eased back in her seat a bit, but her hand still clutched my tags. I didn't understand why she asked me about him if he was still talking to her in her head.

"Did he say something...different?" I asked.

Shit shit shit, please don't know, don't leave, don't hate me, maybe he didn't tell, maybe she didn't understand, maybe she just thought a mate was like a pack mate.

She looked up at me in surprise. "No, it's jus'...mah Wolverine is different from yeh Wolverine, an' Ah don't know what yeh Wolverine is thinking."

"Your Wolverine?" I leaned forward and searching her eyes for gold, but they were just hazel-green.

"They ain't the same." She said.

I didn't get it, and she could tell. She frowned and bit the corner of her bottom lip as she tried to think of what to say, and I tried to ignore how badly I wanted to be the one nipping at her lips instead.

"Ah got mah Wolvie when Ah touched yah back. But it's not lahke Ah can read yah mahnd, an' mah Wolvie can't talk to yahs. So if something changes in yah head, if yah Wolvie thinks something different, mah Wolvie won't know an' neither will Ah." She stopped, thought about it, and then repeated, "They ain't the same."

I kept quiet as waiter boy walked back up to our table, for once glad to see him. He tried to set the leafy shit in front of me, but Marie slid it over to her side and dismissed him with a polite smile and thank you. She didn't mind the leafy shit, and eating it kept her busy while I thought about what she said.

Because if I understood what she tried to explain, it meant that the Wolverine in her head was still thinking about her the way we had when we met her, an entire month ago back when I first picked her up. I tried to remember exactly how the two of us had thought about her back then. I just thought she was some kid, and he...he hadn't thought of her as our mate yet.

_Yer fault. If ya didn't keep tryin'ta make me quiet, I woulda claimed her as our mate sooner._

He said it like it was a bad thing we hadn't recognized her at first, but that meant the Wolverine in her head must not know she was our mate. I resisted the urge to give a literal sigh of relief. So she didn't have some asshole prowling around in her head treating her like a piece of meat.

She finished her salad while I brooded, then looked up at me.

"So why do yah lahke hockey?" She asked.

"'Cause it ain't a pussy sport." I blurted out.

She blushed again, but the corners of her lips tugged up a bit in a shy smile. "Lahhhke...?"

"Soccer. Baseball. Nascar." I shrugged.

"Football?"

I grunted. Didn't really care either way about football. It was at least a contact sport, but it wasn't hockey.

"Whatcha got against Nascar?"

"It ain't a sport and driving in circles ain't that hard." I said.

If I could automatically drive a car without even being able to remember what a car was, I was pretty damn sure it wasn't that fucking difficult.

"Baseball?"

"Nothing fuckin' happens."

"It's American!"

"I'm Canadian."

She blushed at that. Damn, but that girl blushed easy. Not that I was complaining. I just wanted to know how far down that pretty shade of pink went.

"Okay, soccer then."

"Same. And the players are all pussies."

Her blush deepened, but she wasn't acting offended or looking away in disgust. "How?"

"In soccer..." I paused to think of how to explain it to a girl. "...players pretend to have injuries. In hockey, they pretend they don't."

"Lahke that one man who kept playing with a concussion?" She asked.

Damn, I didn't think she paid attention to the hockey games I watched. She always looked so busy and quiet, sketching in her corner.

"Yeah. What are ya always sketching, anyway?"

Another arrival of waiter boy cut off her answer, but at least he came carrying our food. Marie got her ribs, some fries, and the sweet potato, and I finally got my goddamn steak. Fuck, I needed a Molson's. I'd have to use the kid's idea and get a cooler full of the fuckers so I never ran out.

"If yah want some of mah ribs, we can share. Ah already took yah salad an' sweet potato." She said, pushing her plate a bit closer to mine.

"Eat what ya want. I'll eat what ya can't." I replied.

The Wolverine growled that I was acting like her bitch, letting her eat first like that. I should make her wait until I was finished eating, then give her the scraps off of my plate. But I wasn't a fucking animal, and I was trying to treat her right, like a person.

And anyway, I had steak.

We both dug into our food, and the steak almost made up for the lack of Molson's. It was damn close, and a damn good steak. Maybe I should let my Marie order for me more often. I wanted some of that fluffy not-meat stuff she had been eating earlier though, but I didn't want to just grab at it. I wanted to at least act like I was human, but it was a helluava lot harder when I was eating.

Marie looked up, and seemed to notice my problem. "Yah want something, sugah?"

"Fluffy not-meat." I grunted.

"...the bread?"

I froze. Shit. Bread. It's called bread. Human, dammit!

"Here, sugah." She cut a slice and buttered it, passing it to me with a grin. "Is that how you see things? Meat, not-meat, an'...leafy shit?"

I took the slice of bread with fingers that were covered in steak juice. Marie's fingers barely had any sauce on them, even though she was eating with her fingers while I was still trying to make the fork do what I wanted.

"Yeah." I grunted. Fuck, maybe I was an animal.

"What about sweet stuff?" She asked.

I just looked at her. Come on, kid. Drop it.

"Do you like dessert?"

She was still smiling at me, but her scent didn't smell sickly sweet like she was mocking me. I gave a half shrug, not really sure why she bothered. She could eat ribs without getting a single stain on her shirt, and I was struggling to use a fork properly.

"D'you?"

"Hell yeah!" She exclaimed.

I returned her grin at that, and she fake cleared her throat.

"Ah mean...whah yes, Ah do quah-te enjoy chocolate confections." She said, looking shyly at her hands before smirking at me from beneath her lowered eyelashes.

And fuck if that fake innocent look didn't get me harder than rock. I had red meat in my stomach and the Wolverine snarling in my head, and all I needed was her in my lap. Fuck the Molson's, I just wanted her, and she'd taste better too.

I couldn't think of anything to say to that, nothing that was appropriate to say to a fourteen year old kid at least. So I just didn't say anything and neither did she, and we went back to eating. I finished my steak and part of her ribs, and then I didn't have anything to keep busy with.

"You want some dessert, kid?" I asked.

She lit up with a smile again. "Yeah! Is there anything yah want?"

"Nah."

"But they have this chocolate cake thing, an'-"

"Ain't you ever heard you're not supposed to give dogs chocolate?"

"Oh. Lahke...ever?" She asked, looking at me with wide eyes.

"Don't like it anyway."

Her eyes got even wider, and she looked at me like I had just admitted I fucked a moose or could give birth.

"What?"

"I don't like chocolate." I said.

"What?"

"I don't like—"

"What?"

"I do—"

"What?"

"Kid. Stop."

She took a deep breath. "Sorry...Ah...How? Yah poor...Ah'm so sor—nevah...Ah can't..._What_?"

"You like chocolate?" I guessed.

She took several more deep breaths and huffed them out in whooshes of air like she couldn't decide whether she wanted to laugh or start hyperventilating.

"Do yah lahke hockey? Molson's? Steak? Put it all together an' add some sex an' sprinkle it with cocaine, an' yes Logan, Ah lahke chocolate." She said.

I grinned. "Then tell waiter boy to get you that chocolate cake thing."

She frowned and looked around, finally spotting him waiting on another table full of people.

"I don't know...Jeremy looks really busy."

I gave a short, sharp whistle and sure enough, waiter boy jumped and turned around. I jerked my head to the side, letting him know he needed to get his ass over here. He made his apologies to the table and scurried over to ours.

"Um, yes sir?"

I looked over to Marie and he followed my lead. She gave a nervous smile and pointed at a picture on one of those flippy table menus.

"Can Ah have the Chocolate Thundah from Down Undah?" She drawled, almost getting my dick back up just from that one sentence.

Waiter boy nodded and promised to get that to her soon, taking our plates with him when he left.

"So yah can't have any of that?" She asked me.

"Yeah."

"Good, 'cause Ah ain't sharin'." She said, then blushed and winced. "Ah mean..."

I leaned back in my seat and smirked. "S'fine kid. Your birthday an' all."

She smiled at me again and chattered about her favorite desserts until waiter boy came back with her cake. I just watched her eat it, humming around the spoon like it was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted.

_Bet she'd hum like that with her lips wrapped around our co—_

Can't ya shut it fer one goddamn day?!

_She's ours. Claim her before she leaves._

She ain't gonna leave.

_Bullshit, and ya know it._

"Logan?"

Her plate was scraped clean of the cake, and I didn't know how long I had been sitting there staring at her. Waiter boy was back for the fiftieth time, this time with a thin black book that he sat in front of me. I flipped it open. They really had to have a special fucking book for the bill? I pulled the cash out of my jacket pocket, peeled off a couple of bills, and handed the book back to waiter boy.

He smelled surprised, like he didn't actually expect me to pay. I stood and he practically tripped over himself backing out of my way. Marie started to slide out of her booth, and I grabbed her hand, pulling her the rest of the way out and against my chest.

"Ready, kid?" I asked, unable to keep all of the growl out of my voice.

She squeezed my hand and hummed a yes. I let go of her hand only to wrap my arm around her shoulders. She fit so well against me like that, her head barely coming up to my own shoulders. We walked away from the table and toward the front doors, but I nearly lost my shit when we passed pretty boy and his friends, who were still at the bar.

"...her date or her dad?"

If they had just fucking kept it down, it wouldn't have pissed me off so much. I was used to hearing peoples' comments and remarks about me, but that fuckwit had said it loud enough I knew Marie had heard, and she didn't need to deal with that shit. It was only her arm wrapping around my waist and tugging me toward the door that kept me from turning back and shoving his fucking scarf down his fucking throat.

We walked out the door, and Marie kept her arm around my waist and her head down.

"People say mean things." She finally said before we got to my truck.

"People are shit." I grunted.

She squeezed me with her little human strength. "Not alluv 'em."

I let my hand dip a little lower and pulled her a little closer. She pressed against me and wrapped her other arm around me.

"Thanks for the birthday, Logan." She whispered into my chest.

I rubbed my cheek against her hair. "Welcome."

I even remembered to open her door.

* * *

**A/N: First, I have nothing against any of the sports mentioned. I just think that's how Logan would react to them. **

**Second, I did a lot of research finding out if Outback has locations in Canada (they do, three of them), what their drink menu is, what their regular menu is, etc. so if you're some sort of die hard Outback fan and you notice something is wrong, just shut your fucking face, I worked so hard on this.**

**Third, I know this chapter is a little shorter than the last one, but I felt like that one was just a lot to read. It really felt like a lot to write. So I'm still trying to find a good chapter length.**

**And for everyone who has read The Bad Habit, thank you so much! Thanks also to the awesome people who reviewed for this story, and to the super awesome people who have read both!**


	10. Just A Dream

"Ahmma go to bed now, sugah."

"Mkay." I grunted, turning the TV on mute.

I raised my arms above my head and stretched, a small groan slipping out as my spine popped into place. Then my lap was full of soft skin and hair that smelled like sunshine, and my groan deepened to a low growl. Marie just giggled into my shoulder and hugged me tighter.

"Nahght, Logan." She whispered into my ear.

And my near constant hard on was back. I swear I didn't know how my hands had gotten to her waist and that she was breathing against my ear on purpose. She pulled away though, and I forced myself to let her go. But she must not have expected that, because without my hands on her waist to steady her, she somewhat fell back into my lap.

Right onto my hard cock.

Through my sweats, but that thin fabric and her nightgown weren't doing a damn thing to hide what she was doing to me. I should have never let her get a nightgown in the first place, and now it had somehow gotten hiked up dangerously high.

And she was sitting right fucking _on_ my cock.

She shifted and half sat up, and I had to breathe slowly through my nose to stop my whimper of disappointment. She was going to pull away now, go back to her own bed, and maybe even ignore me for a few days. I knew I'd have some serious explaining to do to ever get her to trust me again after this. Maybe I could bullshit her about it being the male body's natural response and that it could have happened to anyone. She'd probably stop letting me hug her or joining me in the sho—

She sat straight back down on my cock, stuttering her hips forward for good measure. I tried to say her name, warn her or beg her, but all that came out was another harsh growl. She looked up at me then, brow slightly furrowed like she was trying to figure something out.

And then my sweet little Marie-mate ground her hips against my cock a third time. Her mouth fell open into a perfect O of surprise, like she had just discovered something wonderful.

"Logan." She breathed.

My breaths were coming in harsh pants through my mouth and my hands were twisting the sheets in an effort not to touch her. It was too soon, she was too young, she was...she was...riding my cock through my sweats.

"C'mon, Logan." She urged.

Her hands clutched my shoulders, and she used them for leverage as she rolled her hips against me. I put a hand on her waist, trying to push her away, but once it was there, all I could do was pull her closer. I tried to say something, anything to make this stop—last forever—but I couldn't force any words out.

"Yeh alrahght, sugah." She drawled.

Fuck, she said it was alright. That counted as consent, right? What she was doing on top of me had to be consent, had to be illegal, had to be the best da—

"Yah jus' gotta wake up." She said.

What?

"Jus' wake up, Logan."

I gasped, breathing in the smell of mold, dust, and old cigarette smoke. My face was pressed into the pillow and my hips were grinding into the mattress. I whipped my head up and looked around, searching for—

Marie sat on the bed beside me, her hand hovering over my shoulder.

"Hey, it's alrahght."

I still gasped for air out my open mouth. Only a dream. It had only been a...

"Jus' a nahghtmare."

_Our Marie-mate, our good little mate, felt so fuckin' good, gonna make her beg, gonna—_

I twisted away from Marie, off of the bed, into the bathroom. The door slammed shut behind me, and I leaned against it, my sweats already shoved down my thighs and my hand already wrapped around my cock.

Just a dream.

Jesus Christ, it was only a dream, and I still finished in seconds, grinding my teeth together to keep silent. I slumped down a few inches, almost collapsing. Not even real, and it was an effort to remember how to make my lungs work.

_Go back and claim her, mark her, fuck her until she knows she's ours!_

I worked on just sucking in more lungfuls of air, trying to steady my breathing and regain some control. The Wolverine howled and yanked on his leash, but I managed to keep him held down until he quieted to distant snarls. Then I had a mess to clean up, all over my hand, the floor, the mirror over the sink...how did it even get that far?!

There hadn't been any sounds from the bedroom, but I knew Marie was there, waiting for me. And I had no fucking idea what I was going to tell her. She said something about it being a nightmare, and maybe I could convince her that's what it was, but there was no way in hell she could stay in the same bed with me.

Not tonight, maybe not ever again if I couldn't get my shit together.

I stood in front of the door, my hand paused on the knob. Maybe I could get away with the nightmare excuse this time, but something had to change before I fucked things up for good. I just didn't know how to keep shit under control without leaving or flat out ignoring her. I'd already tried the first, and I didn't think I could go back to ignoring her now that I'd already gotten so caught up in her.

Shit, what I did know was that I was hiding in the bathroom like a little bitch. So I threw my shoulders back, opened the door, and marched back into the bedroom like a man.

And immediately froze like a fucking deer in the headlights when I locked eyes with Marie.

"Yah stayin' or yah goin'?" She asked.

I should go. A fight and maybe a quick alley fuck might help me work some of this off, just enough that Marie would be safe. But she was looking at me with her big brown doe eyes, and I couldn't force my feet to move. I knew it hurt her whenever I ran off, I could smell her unspoken loneliness and disappointment. But I had to keep her safe, even—especially—from myself, and I didn't know how else to do that.

_Jest tell her the goddamn truth!_

I knew the Wolverine meant the truth about her being our mate, but a different thought popped into my head. Maybe I could tell her a little bit, just a small portion of the truth. And then if she still wanted me to stay, I would.

"Kid."

My voice was rough, and I didn't know where to go from there. I'd barely even talked to that one redhead, and I'd fucked her for a month. Just telling someone what I was thinking about, asking their opinion on it...I felt like I'd stumbled into some different world where feelings were okay and I was a pussy.

She scooted over on the bed, and her movement snapped me out of my brooding. I focused on her, and she gave me a hesitant smile.

"Yah _can_ stay, Logan."

I swallowed and looked at the door again, then back at her. She was still trying to give me a smile even though her scent was worried and confused. Fuck, I couldn't leave, not when she was looking at me like that. Her smile only got firmer and brighter when I walked over to her. There was a space on the bed beside her where she clearly expected me to sit, but that was too close to her for me to be at the moment, so I crouched down in front of her until we were at eye level.

She still looked at me like she cared, and it made my throat go dry. I cleared it and tried to think of what I could tell her without freaking her out too bad.

"I'm kinda fucked up right now, kid."

Fucking understatement. But I figured she knew that already, and it was general enough that I could just let her make her own assumptions about my nightmares and what it meant. She didn't try to interrupt or say meaningless niceties, and her silence let me work out what I needed to say next.

"But I'll stay if ya want."

Then she did open her mouth to say something, still smiling, but I cut her off.

"There've gotta be some rules though."

I stopped again and waited until she met my eyes and nodded that she understood.

"I'm gonna sleep in that bed for the rest of the night, and yer gonna stay in yers. No showerin' together in the morning, either. Ain't nothing ya done, I just don't want to hurtcha." I explained.

"Yah wouldn't hurt meh." She argued.

I wanted her to trust me, needed her to think I was better than I really was, but that blind faith she had in me almost made me sick. Her scent smelled clean and free of any doubts. The stupid kid really believed I would never hurt her, but I fucking knew better.

"I ain't gonna take that risk." I growled.

"But—"

"Those are the rules, Marie. Either ya play by 'em or I gotta go."

She glared down at her lap, and I could smell the frustration leaking into her scent, but this was about her safety, not her happiness. Maybe I was just a shit person, but her safety would always win, every time, even if she hated me for it. I risked touching her chin to lift it up so she would look at me.

"I'm trynta give ya a choice here." I said.

She kept looking at me without saying anything, and I started to worry I'd have to leave after all. But she finally sighed, closed her eyes, and opened them again.

"Ah'll follow yah rules, Logan."

I rubbed my thumb across her chin, then pulled back before I went too far. I'd have to follow my own set of rules if I wanted to keep it together. But she still smelled worried and even a little hurt, and I couldn't let her go back to sleep like that.

"I ain't trynta ignore ya, and I promised I wouldn't leave ya. I just need some space to calm down and get my head straight again. Alright, kid?" I asked.

She nodded and relaxed. "Alrahght."

My hands were itching to touch her again and the Wolverine still snarled at me to claim her, but I stood back up and got in the other bed, alone. We had never exactly cuddled or any of that other sissy shit, but the bed still felt empty without her.

"Goodnight, Logan." She whispered.

_Cowardly little bitch who can't even claim what's his._

"Night."

A couple more weeks passed, and the rules held up good enough for me to keep my shit under control. Marie still didn't like them, but she didn't have to like them to follow them. I got a little better at handling things, like my dick, and I tried to make an effort to talk to her more.

So about a month after her birthday, I knew that Marie likes chocolate, which is a fucking understatement. She also likes drawing, so I got her some pencils and shit. I thought a pencil was a motherfucking pencil, but apparently there's a goddamn difference between 2B and 2H, whatever the fuck that means. I just gave up and let her pick out what she wanted me to buy her. They cost way more than any pencil had the right to cost, but it still wasn't that much, not compared to the type of sparkly shit women usually wanted.

And it made her happy.

She listened to classical music, and I listened to classic rock. Her shit wasn't that bad though. It wasn't something I'd ever just listen to on my own, but it was a fuck ton better than the goat screeching most kids listened to. And even that wasn't as bad as the shit made by computers. I knew Marie thought I was just paranoid, but it pissed me off to know that even music had been taken over by computers.

I pretty much let her do what she wanted, so long as she stayed in whatever motel we were at when I was out cage fighting. It wasn't that I never let her go anywhere without me, I just didn't want her going out when I was on the other side of town and didn't know about it.

She had her sketchbooks, a couple of regular books she liked, and TV to entertain her while I was gone, and if there was ever anything else she wanted, I got it for her. The stupid tabloid magazines, a deck of cards, even an old gameboy I bought at a pawn shop. So I thought I was pretty goddamn laid back about what she did with her time, but even I drew the fucking line at watching a show about rape.

"It's not 'bout rape, Logan!"

"—_stem, sexually based offenses are consi_—"

"The fuck it ain't!"

Marie flopped down on the bed. "Yah jus' don't understand!"

God_damn_ teenage girls.

"Look, kid—"

"_DON DON!_"

"Shit, can you turn that the fuck off? I'm trying to have a goddamn talk with ya." I said.

"Ah don't need a _talk_, Ah'm not ten!" She replied.

I crossed my arms. "Yer fourteen."

I must have said that wrong, because it only pissed her off even more, and she threw the remote at my head. That only pissed me off even more. She seemed to realize her mistake when I caught the remote before it hit me and turned the TV off. She huffed and twisted sideways on the bed. I narrowed my eyes and stalked over to her.

_Gotta discipline yer mate, bub. Yer whipped enough as it is._

"Marie." I growled.

I waited until she reluctantly scooted around to face me again. She wasn't allowed to turn her fucking back on me, and she knew I hated it when she pulled that shit.

"What?" She muttered.

"Ya know what."

She raised her head and glared at me. "But Ah don't know _whah_!"

"Because I fucking said so."

"Whah?"

That's why I never talked to kids before. I hated the little fuckers. Why, why, _why_?

"Because this ain't the sort of shit ya should be watchin'." I said, trying to keep calm.

She looked me dead in the eye. "Whah?"

The start of a growl slipped out, but she cut me off.

"It's nothing Ah ain't seen before." She stopped and shook her head. "Ah used to sneak over to mah friend's house to watch this show. An' after Cody, Ah thought Ah could jus' go to Alaska like it was one big road trip. An' then it was like Ah was in the show."

Just the thought of Marie wandering alone, hitching rides from who-the-fuck-ever, seeing the sort of fucked up shit on that show...I could feel my claws slide down my forearms. But the worst part was that I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't punch or slice open the past. If something had happened to her before I found her, then it was already done.

"Mah skin stopped anything...real bad...from happenin'. But then it was in mah head, an' Ah didn't know nothin'!" She stopped again, her face twisted with anger. "Ah was just a stupid little girl who thought people would help meh 'cause that's what Ah'd always been told, an' it wasn't true!"

I couldn't stop myself from grabbing her at that and pulling her over to me. She didn't resist and wrapped her arms around as much of me as she could. Fuck, but she was so tiny and young and innocent.

"Ah'm not innocent." She said, making me wonder if she couldn't really read my mind.

"Ya—"

"The things in mah head..."

I tipped her head up to make her look at me. "They ain't _you_."

She sighed. "Ah'm sick of pretending everything is alrahght an' the world is nice, because it ain't. An' Ah know yah would make it better if yah could, 'cause yah have. Ah know it's jus' a show too, but it seems real. Like that stuff really happens and Ah'm not jus' crazy."

I didn't really get what she was saying, because of course that shit fucking happens, that was what I tried to protect her from. I just...fuck, I just didn't get it.

"And ya gotta watch this shit because..." I snarled out.

She sat back, and I tightened my arms around her. She didn't try to move away though, she just stared at my chest and twisted her lips to the side while she thought about it.

"The two detectives always watch our for each other. An' sometimes it doesn't end happy an' a lot of bad stuff happens, but it makes me think, an'—"

"Dammit kid, I don't want ya to think about it!" I snapped.

She glared up at me and let out a breath through her nose. "Used to, Ah didn't think 'bout it! Ah didn't think 'bout what happens tah runaway kids, an' how the law sometimes doesn't work, an' what it's lahke tah be hungry. But Ah don't wantah live my lah-fe sheltered lahke that!"

"That ain't ya problem, kid. Not anymore, not ever again."

_Protect her, never let anyone else touch her, our Marie-mate!_

"'Bout a week after Ah left, a man offered meh a rah-de. Ah was tired an' it was late an' cold, but Ah said no 'cause on the show they talked 'bout most abductions happenin' in grocery parking lots. He kept insistin', but some people came outtah the store, an' Ah ran in."

I pulled her back against my chest and tried to keep my claws in. She should've never had to worry about hitching rides and abductions. She was my little Marie-mate, and I'd never let anything hurt her again.

"Ah kicked mahself for it all nah-ght 'cause Ah thought maybe he really was jus' tryintah help until Ah saw his face in the paper the next day. He killed two girls, an' it coulda been meh jus' 'cause Ah didn't know..._anything_."

She looked up at me. "Ah ain't watchin' it 'cause Ah lahke what Ah see. Ah watch it 'cause it's important."

I grabbed her head and shoved it back against my neck. I was still just trying to resist the Wolverine's howls to go hunt the fucker down and kill him slowly for ever threatening my Marie-mate. She rubbed her cheek against my shoulder and smoothed her hands down my sides. I managed to pull my claws up out of my knuckles, at least partway back where they normally rested.

"Ah promise Ah won't watch it without yah, so if it gets too bad, yah can jus' turn it off." She mumbled, still stroking up and down my sides.

I let out a sigh that was more like a growl. It was clear she wasn't giving up, and I didn't want her to sneak around behind my back to watch it. At least if I was watching it with her, I could turn it off without her being able to say shit about it since she already fucking promised.

Damn little brat knew she had won and gave me an extra squeeze before reaching for the remote and turning the TV back on. We shifted around until she was comfortable laying against my side and watched her damn show. We'd missed the first fifteen minutes too, so I didn't know what the fuck was going on, but that could be because I was too busy concentrating on the feel of her snuggled up against me to pay attention.

As soon as the show ended, another one came straight back on, with the commercials promising they were lined up back to back all night. Apparently, there were thirty fucking seasons of this shit, or something like that. I grabbed the remote and turned it off before we got sucked into an all nighter though.

"No, jus' one more, please Logan?" Marie pouted, twisting around in my lap and making things damn difficult for me.

"That's enough for tonight." I growled.

She stuck out her lip and gave me the eyes, so I resorted to desperate measures and asked the question that had been eating at me for the last forty five minutes.

"Who the fuck is Cody?"

* * *

**A/N: I know this chapter is a little bit shorter than usual too, but I promise I'm not going to make a habit of updating with half assed chapters. I actually planned to write more, but then I wrote the last sentence and was like, wow, that's a damn good stopping point. Cliff hangers, bitches.**

**I included as much sexy time as I possibly could at this point, because I hate teases who upload a story and rate it M, and then either never have smut or skip over it with some sort of "he ripped off my panties...and then the next morning" bullshit. We all know fanfiction is basically just for porn. And while the real smut won't be here for a while now, just a heads up, it will be eventually. So please don't get emotionally attached to this story if you can't handle that. Rant over.**

**Also, the goat screeching is a reference to Taylor Swift. There's a video on youtube where one part of her singing in "Trouble" is replaced with a goat. It sounds exactly the same.**


	11. Cody Who?

"Ah was...well, we...he kissed meh..." Marie mumbled.

_MINE. Should've been us, she's OUR mate!_

I looked down at the top of her head that she had half buried in the crook of my arm. She said kissed like it was some sort of secret, magical thing and my stomach twisted in jealousy. I wanted to be her first and only for everything and never let anyone else touch her.

_Our little Marie-mate..._

"Ah don't even think Ah lahked him, but he lahked me, and Ah...Ah'd never been lahked before." She whispered.

I finally caught a good whiff of the underlying emotion in her scent. Shame. She was ashamed and apparently thought no one had ever liked her. I wanted to hunt down everyone in her past and kill the bastards. She deserved so much better than the life she had. Deserved better than me too, but I was here now, and I wasn't ever letting her go.

"Ah didn't mean to hurt him."

Hurt him? The fuck was she talk-

"Ah just didn't know what he wanted, an' if Ah would be his girlfriend, an' if Ah even wanted him tah kiss meh, an' Ah just got scared, an—"

"Kid."

I'd let her say what she needed to, but now that she was talking, it didn't seem like she was going to stop. She finally went quiet at the sound of my voice, but her face was pressed against my shoulder and she had practically crawled into my lap.

And as much as I liked the feeling of her curled up in my lap, that was against The Rules, so I shifted her back to her spot on the bed beside me. She still clutched at my arms though, and I didn't want to let go of her entirely. I stayed awkwardly twisted instead with my arms wrapped around her the best they could with her pressed against my side.

"Marie."

She made a muffled noise against my shoulder but didn't raise her head.

"It ain't yer fault, kid."

"He's in a coma."

_Good. Don't fucking touch our mate._

I didn't give a fuck what happened to the little shit. If his voice wasn't one of the fuckers in her head, I might even feel a sick sense of satisfaction that he'd gotten what was coming to him for touching my mate.

"He in ya head too?" I asked.

She nodded. I sighed.

"Shit, kid. I'm sorry that happened to ya, but it ain't yer fault, alright?"

"But if Ah hadn't got scared, he—"

"If the little piece of shit had kept his hands to his fucking self." I growled.

Marie raised her head then, looking up at me in shock. Must've let just a bit too much jealousy seep into my voice.

"Ya said ya didn't even like him—"

The only reason I might not track him down and finish the job myself.

_Rip his throat out..._

"—and he scared ya. He never should've touched ya."

_MinemineminemineMariemate._

"...uh, without ya permission." I tacked on to the end to make it sound less like I was just a possessive bastard.

_Don't make fuckin' excuses 'bout it. She belongs to us!_

"It was jus' a dare. His friends dared him tah kiss the weird girl down the street." She said.

My heart twisted instead of my stomach at the pain in her voice. The Wolverine was still growling in my head, and it was getting harder to keep my claws in.

"In mah head, he said he was sorry...an' Ah bet he is. Ah bet he's real sorry." She added with a bitter laugh.

I could smell the sharp scent of salt, and I pulled her tighter against me, shifting down until she was laying beside me. There was nothing in The Rules I'd made about holding her like this since we usually didn't get close enough at night for it to be an issue. And even though I should probably play it safe and push her over to her side of the bed, there was no fucking way I was letting her go when she was like this.

I adjusted our positions until I could lay on my back with one hand beneath my head and one arm wrapped around her. She lay half on and half against my side, her hands clutching my shirt, her head tucked beneath my chin, and her legs tangled up with my own.

She cried herself to sleep, and it drove me crazy. The Wolverine alternated between demanding that we kill that Cody fuckface and that we lick away her tears, mark her, bury ourselves inside her. But the only thing I buried was my face in her hair until I fell asleep breathing in my mate's scent while she lay against me.

I woke up seconds before Marie started stirring across from me. Her scent was thick with the smell of blood, and I popped my claws before I remembered she was due for her period soon. She moaned in her sleep and curled up around herself.

I reached out and touched her shoulder. "Kid."

She gave a soft sigh and turned her head to nuzzle my hand. The Wolverine purred in approval, and I could feel a low rumble building in my throat too. I choked it off and counted to ten, then shook her shoulder again.

"Marie."

She groaned and opened her eyes. "Lo?"

_Pretty little mouth..._

I practically suffocated trying to choke down my growl down at the half slurred name.

_...smells so fucking good..._

"Wake up, kid."

_...fertile ripe little mate..._

"Whassamattah?" She mumbled.

_...jest needs a good hard fucking..._

Not much, just the voice in my head yelling at me to fuck you again, except this time it's worse because he can smell your blood and knows you're fertile.

"Uhhh..."

She sat up and her eyes widened in sudden understanding.

"'Scuze meh." She gasped, bolting out of the bed and into the bathroom.

I could smell blood and embarrassment lingering in the air. I groaned and flopped back down onto the bed. I hadn't meant to embarrass the poor kid, just figured she'd rather be woken up sooner than later. The Wolverine hadn't stopped growling in my head, replaying the sound of her moaning half my name. I wondered if I would have enough time to jack off before she got back.

No, dammit, I was trying to get some control, not jack off into her pillowcase like a horny teenager. The Wolverine immediately roared in agreement to the last part. I pressed the heel of my palm against my crotch and started counting again.

By the time Marie came back out, I'd gotten my dick mostly under control, but I flopped onto my stomach to be sure. She hovered by the edge of the bed, still smelling embarrassed and nervous. My arms were wrapped around my head, and I lifted up just enough to look at her.

"'Mere." I grunted.

She gave me a small smile and hopped back into bed next to me. I flopped my head back down and closed my eyes so I wouldn't stare at her, but I opened them again when I felt her fingertips trailing across my arm.

I let her just touch me for several minutes, her explorations getting bolder until she was running her palm from my shoulder to my elbow. I kept quiet, but when she deliberately gripped my bicep, I flexed. She let out a little gasp, and I smirked at the sound.

_We'd be a strong mate for our little kitling..._

She let go. "Ah'm sorry, Ah..."

I regretted moving, missing her soft hand rubbing my skin.

"S'okay." I muttered.

It was quiet for almost a minute before she spoke again. "Ah can't sleep. Ah never can...do yah mind if Ah read or watch TV?"

"We could just talk."

Woah. Where the holy fuck did that come from? Sure, I'd been trying to talk to her more often, but since when did I volunteer to "just talk"?!

"We could play Never Have Ah Ever." She replied.

"What?"

She sat up against the headboard and glanced around. "Well, yeh supposed t'have more people, but it's a game. Everyone puts up all ten fingers and whose ever turn it is says something they've never done before. If yah've done it, yah put a finger down. First person with all their fingers down loses. But since it's jus' the two of us, we can play with five."

I stayed laying down and tried to think of something I'd never done before. I'd stuck to North America the last fifteen years, but I was pretty sure I had memories of being in France, England, Germany, Russia, even Japan. Vietnam definitely. Fucked just about everything and in every way too.

"Never mind, Ah can jus' read or so—"

"Nah." I sat up next to her. "I'll play."

Not sure how I would, and it didn't seem like this would end well, but I didn't like hearing my mate disappointed. I mimicked her pose and pulled both knees up to my chest, placing an outstretched hand on top. I'd just have to suck it up or cheat or something.

"Alrahght, Ah'll start! Never Have Ah Ever..." She paused to think of something. "...been to Alaska."

I'd been through Alaska two or three years ago, even made a short stop over at Russia for a nurse who could...not important anymore. I put down a finger.

"What's special about Alaska?" I asked, stalling for time.

"That's where Ah wanted to go for mah birthday." She said.

I rolled my eyes. "What's special about Alaska?"

She laughed. "Ah don't know. It's not Mississippi, Ah guess."

"You're from Mississippi?"

"No Logan, Ah just talk like this for fun. Now quit stallin', it's yeh turn."

"Dammit. Umm...I've never—"

"Never Have Ah Ever." She reminded me.

I grinned with a sudden idea. "Never Have I Ever...worn a dress."

Marie scowled at me and put down a finger. "Oh, is this how we're gonna play, sugah? Well, Never Have Ah Ever...grown a beard."

I put down a finger and she laughed and stuck her tongue out at me. I tried not to think about where else she could stick that cute little tongue of hers.

"Never Have I Ever...uhh...Ever...shit, kid. I've done a lot." I finally admitted.

She just huffed. "Oh, so yah've gone everywhere in the world, done everything to be done, twice, uphill both ways?"

"Don't get sassy with me, kid." I ruffled her hair and grinned at her. "Never Have I Ever...sang karaoke."

Marie burst out laughing. "Ah...Ah bet...yah singin' sucks!"

"Hey, my singing is damn beautiful!"

She just laughed even harder. I waited until she calmed down then nudged her to let her know it was her turn. I'd already learned she was from Mississippi and wanted to go to Alaska, so maybe this game wasn't half bad after all.

"Never Have Ah Ever..."

"Hold up, kid." I cut her off. "Have you ever sang karaoke?"

She blushed. "We-ellll..."

"Then put yer damn finger down, ya dirty cheater." I growled.

She giggled again and put a finger down. We were even now, each with two fingers down.

"Never Have Ah Ever..." She continued. "...been married."

I raised an eyebrow. "So that's how we're gonna play, kid?"

She didn't even blush this time, just looked me dead in the eye and shrugged, waiting for my reaction. I didn't put a finger down.

"Shoot! Ah thought that'd get yah for sure." She grumbled.

I kept my eyebrow raised. "I look like the type to get married to ya, kid?"

"At least three times." She agreed.

My other eyebrow joined the first. If she kept this up, they'd probably get lost in my hairline.

"What, I can't have a happy marriage with a nice woman?" I asked.

She started laughing again, but stopped it with an awkward cough when I didn't grin or join in.

"Oh, yah were serious." She mumbled, blushing again. "Ah guess yah could if yah wanted. Get hitched to a nice young lady an' go to church every Sunday an' have a couple of kids, maybe a dog. Work nine to five so she can stay at home an' sleep in separate beds."

My eyebrows finally came back down so I could frown. Sounded awfully fucking specific and not the happy, all in white wedding dream little girls where supposed to have.

Marie shot me a shy grin from beneath her lashes. "...or we could just run away to Alaska."

"Alaska or bust." I immediately agreed.

She grinned and nudged me with her elbow. "Yeh turn."

"Shiiiiit."

"Logan!"

"Never Have I Ever...um...shit."

"Ah'm pretty sure yah've done that before, sugah." She said with a grin.

I fake scowled at her. "What'd I tell you about your sass?"

"That it makes meh special and unique and to never change who Ah am." She retorted.

"Damn straight." I agreed. "Fuck, okay fine. Never Have I Ever...eaten chocolate cake."

Marie gasped. "Yeh such a dirty cheater!"

"_I'm_ the dirty cheater?!"

"Well...that...that was jus' low!" She spluttered, lowering her third finger.

I smirked. "It still worked. Your turn."

"Fine! Never Have Ah Ever...rode on a motorcycle."

I put down a finger, and she gave a triumphant laugh. But it was my turn now, and I actually had a good one.

"Never Have I Ever...sat through an entire church service." I said.

Marie put her pinky finger down with a grimace. "Lucky."

"Thought you said you were religious?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Ah said mah _parents_ were religious. We went to church Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, church camp, everything. Ah still cringe whenever Ah see a Bible."

"So I don't have to worry about taking you to any church services?"

"Nah. Ah don't think yah need to go to church to be a good person." She replied.

"Guess that's good for me then." I looked over at her. She only had a thumb left, so it'd better be good. "Go."

"Ah'm thinkin'! Never Have Ah Ever...made out with a boy."

I nearly got whiplash from how fast I looked over at her. "The fuck?!"

"Finger up or down Logan." She said.

I glared at her and didn't put my pinky down. "What exactly makes you think I'd be making out with guys?"

"Midlife crisis?" She asked with a sheepish smile.

"I ain't midlife! Shit, kid. How old do you think I am?" I demanded.

Not that it mattered how old I really was. I hadn't aged in fifteen years, and I doubted I'd start any time soon. It still kind of pissed me off that she was talking about me having a midlife crisis like I was old enough to be her dad or something.

She suddenly decided the ceiling was really interesting. "Um...well...lahhhhke...thirty five?"

I grunted. "Still not midlife."

"That's almost exactly in the middle of the average human lifespan." She argued.

_**Her** lifespan. She's gonna grow old and die, and yer jest sittin' here with yer thumb up yer ass!_

"Never Have I Ever..." I said, continuing without a reply.

Marie twisted around and sat on her knees beside me. "Logan? Ah...Ah'm sorry. Ah didn't meantah—"

I put my legs down and pulled her closer to me. She leaned against my chest, still balanced on her knees. It was an awkward position, but she wasn't technically sitting on my lap either. I'd rather tell her now and let her get used to the idea than let her figure it out five, ten, another fifteen years down the road when she grew up and I stayed the same.

"I ain't exactly the average human." I muttered into her hair. "I uh...I don't get old."

"Yah don't age...at all?" She asked.

I sighed. "Been 'thirty five' for at least fifteen years, probably longer. Don't really remember before that."

"So yah not really in the middle...yeh jus'..." She looked up at me and trailed off.

I met her gaze. "I gotta lot more time ahead of me."

"Well, Ah'll keep yah company for as long as Ah can." She said.

_Mine, ours, gonna die, gonna leave, grow older, find someone else, leave us, wanna stay forever..._

I shut out the Wolverine's disjointed thoughts and pulled her back to me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and let me hold her for a while.

"Ya still gonna want me around when yer old?" I whispered.

It was killing me to think about that, her being old and gray. I'd give up my claws and healing in an instant if it would let me grow old with my mate. Well...maybe I'd wait for her to catch up to my age first. I didn't want to die of old age before her and leave her alone. I wanted us to spend the rest of our lives together and have fucking Hallmark moments and shit.

"Yah still gonna wantah be around when Ah'm old?" She whispered back.

I just held her tighter as I thought of something even worse. "I'll look like yer son. People'll talk. Ya might not want—"

Marie pulled away and I tried not to let out a desperate whine. She didn't try to get up or move out of my arms though, just gave me a strange look of sad determination.

"So let 'em talk. They do now. Yah said people are shit anyway."

I let out a shaky breath. Damn, my little Marie could be tough when she wanted to. I ran my hand down the side of her head, feeling her soft hair brush against my skin. She leaned into the touch, and I felt the tension in my shoulders unwind a bit.

"Yeah." I rasped. "Yer opinion is the only one that matters, kid."

_Yer the only one that matters, only one we care about, our little Marie-mate._

She nodded and looked down at my chest. I kept petting her hair and she ran her palms down my shoulders to my collar bones and started fiddling with my shirt. I wanted it gone so I could feel her skin on my mine, her soft little hands smoothing over my chest. I started counting again but broke off when I noticed her smile. It got wider until it turned into a full on grin, and I nudged her shoulder.

"Ah'm gonna flaunt yah _all_ around mah nursing home." She said, still grinning.

"What?"

She raised her head and fixed me with a mischievous smile. "Ah'll be eighty years old an' pinching yah butt cheeks."

"Uh...what?"

She just laughed. "An' Ah'll make yah play Mah-Jong with meh an' hold mah dentures. An' all the other old ladies will be so jealous!"

I managed to give a half smile back. It still made me feel sick to think about it, but at least she was talking about her growing old like I'd still be there. I didn't know what she wanted for her future, if staying with me was just a temporary thing before she grew up or if she really did want me to stay in her life, but hearing her talk about it like we'd always be together made me feel a little easier.

"That sounds good, kid."

"Yeah." She whispered in agreement. "It's yeh turn again."

She only had her thumb left, and I suddenly didn't want the game to end so soon. I tried to think of something I hadn't done that she wouldn't have either.

"Never Have I Ever..."

"Wait!" She cried. "Yah said yah can't remember past...fifteen years?"

I nodded.

"Then how do yah know what yah've done and what yah haven't?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I've been going off of the last fifteen I do remember."

"Oh. Well Ah guess that rules out some stuff." She said.

"Like what?"

"Lahke high school an' first dates an' stuff."

I grimaced at her. "Yeah. I think high school is the one hell life hasn't put me through."

"Guess yah could always get yah GED." She replied.

"For what? Cage fighting?"

"Or college."

I just stared at her.

"What?" She defended. "Yah might want to get a Master's in basket weaving one day!"

I kept staring at her and she started laughing again.

"Basket weaving." She snorted.

"Alright, kid. Ya wanna finish this game or not?" I growled.

She sobered up enough to sit up straight, but ignored my growl entirely and kept grinning at me.

"Never Have I Ever...been on a plane."

She'd acted like she wanted to get away from Mississippi, but I doubted she'd be so eager to leave if she had actually gotten to travel a bit, so I gambled that she'd never flown before. My bet paid off and she kept her thumb up.

"Yah've never flown before?" She asked.

I shifted and looked away. "Yeah. So?"

"Yah seem to move around a lot, an' yah've had at least fifteen years to travel." She shrugged. "Just seemed like yah might want to fly someplace...like Vegas or Mexico or something."

"Don't like being up high." I mumbled.

"Oh, so yah scared of hei—"

"I ain't scared." I snapped out of reflex before I remembered who I was talking to. "I just...don't like being up high."

"Rahhhhhght. Well. Ah don't lahke clowns." She admitted.

"Clowns are creepy as fuck."

"Thank yah! No one else seems to get it, but they're weird!"

She looked so dead set serious, like everyone in the world needed to know right fucking now that clowns were not okay, and I grinned at her.

"Got anything else you don't like that I should know about?" I asked.

"Ah don't lahke frogs." She said with a shudder.

I chuckled. "Why frogs?"

"Ah..." She stopped and frowned. "One of the neighbor boys sneaked one into my bed one night, an' that was a little scary. But not that much, so Ah don't really know. They're jus' gross, Ah guess."

I didn't like the sound of some "neighbor boy" sneaking anything into her bed, but even I could recognize that I was being irrational, so I took a deep breath and pushed the irritation down.

"Too cold for 'em this far north, so you'll be fine. Your turn, kid." I reminded her.

"Oh. Um, Never Have Ah Ever...had a sibling." She said.

I frowned and looked at my hand. Shit.

"Have yah? Ah mean...if it's none of mah business, Ah—"

"You're fine, kid." I reassured her. "I just ain't all that sure. Can't remember much...maybe...fuck, there might've been someone I fought with once. I just can't..."

I stopped and fought down a growl of frustration. Sometimes in my nightmares of half remembered wars I'd get the feeling there was someone fighting next to me, but I could never see the damn bastard.

"Fought?" She asked, looking at me with worried confusion.

I gave her a half grimace, half smile. "Yeah, kid. Didn't get those tags working at K-Mart."

She blinked in understanding. "Oh."

I put down a finger anyway, mostly just to make us even. Marie looked down at my hand and pressed her thumb against my mine. She glanced back up at me and smiled, then dropped her hand.

"Guess it's mah turn. Never Have Ah Evah—ahhhh—ahh..." She broke off with a yawn.

I ran my hand over her head again. "Gettin' sleepy, kid?"

She nodded and leaned against me, tilting her head so I could pet her again. I let her lay against me until her breath started to even out, then lay her back down on her side of the bed. She moved onto her side and cracked an eye open.

"Play again later?"

I shifted down to lay beside her. "Anytime."

"Thanks for ta—ahhh—lking to me." She said through another yawn.

I knew I should stop touching her hair, stop touching her altogether and let her sleep, but it felt nice to just touch my mate. And she made such sweet little noises, sighs and hums that somehow calmed me down and made me hard at the same time.

"I'm here to take care of ya."

She roused at that, and I winced. I didn't mean to wake her up, and I didn't really mean for her to hear that either. She opened her eyes and blinked hazily at me.

"Wha d'Ah do f'yah?" She mumbled.

I dug my fingers into her hair instead of just smoothing over the top of it. She smelled so sweet, and I knew it was sick, but the blood just make her scent thicker.

"Keep me company." I finally answered.

She yawned again and closed her eyes with a small smile.

"Night kid."

"G'nahght, sugah." She drawled.

I rolled over onto my back, my hands still itching to touch her more. Her breathed deepened and slowed as she fell asleep. The Wolverine prowled in my mind, snarling at every opportunity that we needed to claim her..._now_.

And I stayed awake until dawn, counting and thinking of what I'd learned about my mate from our little game.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, I know, I usually update earlier in the morning today, but I was on call at work all night, woke up late at 7:50, was at work for my morning shift at 8:00, and now I'm off for a one hour lunch break so my work can suck a bag of dicks. Living the dream.**

**A few people have commented in reviews about Victor, and he's kind of mentioned here, so just to clear things up: FUCK YES, he will be involved in this story. But no, he's not just going to show up, be a rapist, and get dropped by Marie so she can be immortal. He's actually going to be important to the story, but much later.**

**Also, I know Marie's been acting kind of childish lately, with her hissy fit over SVU, rash showering decisions, and making Logan play Never Have I Ever, but please keep in mind that she's fourteen right now, so she's going to act like it.**

**As for what comes next...dunno, honestly. I have scenes planned out where Marie gets involved in a bar fight, Logan sees/comforts Marie when she has her own nightmare, Logan and Maire go to a bookstore, and Marie paints Logan's toenails. I'm just not sure what I order I want that to happen in, so let me know what you really want to see next in your reviews! ;D**


	12. Good Old What's-Her-Name

Marie slept curled up in the front seat beside me. She hadn't been sleeping well since her girl time hit, but she'd been asleep for almost two hours now, her hands still curled around one of her books. I tried to tell myself that it was okay to stare at her while she slept because there wasn't anyone else on the road and Canada got pretty boring to look at after five hours. I like Canada just fine, but unless I could tramp through the snow and forests on my own two feet, it got pretty boring to look at pretty quick.

But I could just stare at the kid for hours. Spent the past hour and a half doing just that. She had my jacket tucked around her shoulders and it practically swallowed her. A damn fine look for her, in my opinion. Wearing my clothes, my tags, my scent. Real fucking pretty sight, especially when she slept. So little and quiet, trusting me to take care of her.

So I wasn't staring at her because I was some sort of pervert. It was just instinct, watch over my mate while she slept, keep her warm, protect her. Just instinct. What I tried to tell myself.

But really I had this picture memorized. The way her hair fell across her face, giving me little glimpses of a pale cheek, dark eyelashes, and just the corner of her lips. How my jacket draped over her, hiding everything except little fingertips peeking out of the sleeves and a long stretch of her neck, divided in half by the silver chain of my tags.

An hour and a half, and I could probably describe every single detail of her. If I had any of her drawing talent, I might sketch or paint it or something. Mount a picture of it on my wall. Well...if I had a wall. Might have to get one of those, one day. Four of them, maybe even a roof on top. Bit too soon to try to settle her down though. Didn't want to rush things and scare her.

Used to be four walls was one of the few things that could scare me, and the goddamn Wolverine don't scare easy. But four walls day in and day out, no road, no freedom...just the thought of it made me shudder.

But Marie made something inside of me different. I still had all of the Wolverine's need for freedom and wildness, but now I had new instincts too. Ones that whispered about a den, someplace to take our mate that smelled like me and her mixed together, where she would be safe and I could keep her forever.

Another car passed us on the road, and I turned my attention back out the windshield just long enough to see it past us. Then I went right back to staring at her. I couldn't help myself, didn't want to anyway. She belonged to me, and I would damn well look my fill.

Her fingers twitched against the book she held, but she stilled and made a soft sigh a moment later. I waited a bit longer, but she didn't wake up or move again. My jacket covered most of the book so I couldn't see the title, but the corner edge stuck out. The pages were worn and stained, and I could tell it was old. I'd seen her with it a couple of times over the last three months, and she had to have read it at least five or six times just while she's been with me.

I planned on driving until we reached a town about an hour farther where I was already known in the fight circuit, but we were coming up on a smaller town I knew of in about fifteen minutes. It didn't have a real bar, just a mom and pop diner, and there definitely weren't any cage fights to be found.

But it did have a bookstore.

Of course I only knew that because I'd banged the owner, but that was twelve years ago, a long time for most people. Last time I'd stopped in two years back, there had been three little brats running around her and a husband back home. That killed any of my hopes for a repeat performance with the paddle.

Not sure how she'd feel about seeing Marie, but she hadn't been bitchy or nothing two years ago. Made me a pie and I fixed her car, and then I left. I might be a lot different kinds of bastard, but I didn't knowingly fuck another man's woman.

Marie clutched her book a little tighter, and I made my decision.

The bookstore looked the same as it did the last time, with the same bell that clanged when we walked in. Marie stumbled along, still half asleep from the drive, but she perked up at the sound of the bell and the sight of the store.

"Where're we?" She mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

I stood behind her with an arm wrapped around her waist. She didn't mind, she never did, and she leaned back against my chest while she worked on waking up. But before I had a chance to reply, the woman at the counter turned around. She looked the same as she did the last time too, with the same glasses that screamed "sexy librarian." And her face still had the same wrinkles I had noticed last time, the ones that hadn't been there the first time.

"Logan." She gasped, clearly not expecting me a second time.

"Laur..." Shit damn fuck. "...ren?"

She gave me a patient smile. "Ri. Lori. We've been through this before, Logan. Although, I suppose it is closer than Karen."

I offered her a somewhat sheepish smile and a shrug. It was more than what she would have got if Marie hadn't been standing there, and I think she knew it because her attention immediately turned to the kid.

"So what's your name?" She asked.

"Rogue." Marie replied, pressing further back against me.

I'd have to ask the kid about that later. Come to think of it, she'd never given her name to anyone else we met...not that there had been all that many occasions for a proper introduction. Still, if she didn't want anyone else knowing her real name, that was alright with me. I didn't really want to share her like that anyway.

"Ah'm sorry, Ah jus' woke up, an' mah manners aren't quite here yet." Marie cleared her throat lightly and straightened up, although she didn't pull away from me. "Hi, Lori. This is a nice store you have."

She smiled back at Marie, a bit uncertainly. "Thank you...Rogue."

"How'd you know this is hers?" I asked Marie, nudging her lightly to get her wide and awake.

Marie just rolled her eyes at me. "Ain't like her name isn't on the sign out front. In blue and gold lettering. Not conspicuous at all."

"No need fer ya dictionary words." I muttered, betraying my tone with a grin.

Marie let her head fall back against my chest and tilted it back until she was looking straight up, then stuck her tongue out at me. The other woman looked back and forth between the two of us. I'd given her a spanking I was willing to bet she hadn't forgotten to this day when she talked back to me, but I just growled playfully at Marie, who giggled and put her head back down again.

"Please excuse him. He's a little..." She leaned forward and whispered the last word. "...male."

She smiled a bit more easily. "I know."

Her scent was light enough that I knew she only meant it as a joke, but the accidental innuendo wasn't lost on Marie.

"Oh really?" She asked, her scent curious.

Time to change the subject. "How's your husband?"

"Dead."

"Shit. Er, sorry. The kids?"

Fuck, don't let them be dead too.

She smiled. "A handful, but they're all fine. Oldest is probably only a couple of years younger than yours."

"He's not mah dad." Marie said.

The smile stayed, but her eyes showed her confusion. "Oh. I guess Logan is a friend of your family...?"

"No." Marie held her eyes for a moment, then tilted her head back to look at me again. "Do yah mind if Ah look around?"

"Just stay close, kid." I answered.

Marie nodded, then looked back down again. "Mah condolences for yah husband."

She turned and wandered into the shelves of books, leaving me behind with the librarian lady and an awkward silence. I knew what she was probably thinking of me and Marie, but I didn't give a single fuck about it.

"So...Logan."

"So...Luuuu..." Wait, no, fuck!

"Logan!" Marie glared at me from a nearby aisle. "She just told yah her name is Lori. Don't mind him, Lori. It's been a long drive, _Lori_."

"Oh. How long has it been?" She asked, obviously just trying to make small talk to fill the silence.

Marie shrugged. "Ah don't know. Ah slept through most of it. Where's the fiction?"

"It's toward the back. I can show you where." _Lori_ said.

_Who the fuck cares what her name is? She ain't our mate._

They walked off, and I stayed standing alone in the front of the shop. I usually didn't like letting Marie out of my sight like that, but I could still hear everything they said, thanks to my advanced senses. And I wanted to know what _Lori_ would say to my Marie when she thought they were out of earshot.

Nothing for a few moments, then just as I thought, "So how do you know Logan?"

"How do yah?"

"We...met a long time ago. I only saw him one more time after that, and he fixed my car."

"That sounds nice."

It went silent, and I smirked. Good little girl, not giving anything away. We weren't any of Lori's damn business anyway. But she was at it again a few seconds later.

"Do your parents know where you are?"

"They wouldn't care if they did, so Ah don't see how it matters...or how it's any of yah business."

_Heh. Ya fuckin' tell her, Marie._

"I just want to make sure you're safe."

Yeah, that's what I thought. Never mind that I showed you a damn good time and what a screaming orgasm feels like. Just forget that I backed off when I saw your ring and fixed your damn car for just a piece of pie. Fuck you, Lori.

"Yah said yah know Logan."

"...yes?"

"Then do yah think he'd ever hurt meh?"

"Listen, sweetie—"

"Then yah don't really know Logan. Does this sticker mean it's half off?"

"Oh, um...well, yes. It does."

"Thank yah."

I leaned back against a shelf and clenched my fists to keep from stalking back there and claiming my mate. Sweet little Marie, acting like I was worth a damn, like I really wouldn't ever hurt her. And I wouldn't, not deliberately. I tried so hard to protect her from everything, especially myself. Moments like these made that hard though, when all I wanted to do was make her mine. But strangely, they also made it somehow easier. I'd never waited for another woman, but I would wait for my Marie, my mate who trusted me.

Even if I didn't deserve that sort of trust, maybe I could earn it.

Marie and Lori came back from behind the shelves, Lori looking a little bit shellshocked. I fought back a smirk. Marie could be a little spitfire when she got pissed. Fuckin' loved that about her. She'd act all polite and cautious until you got her riled up, and then she'd stare you down. Wasn't afraid to sass the Wolverine either. Pissed me off sometimes, but I was damn glad she wasn't afraid of me.

"Can Ah have this one?" She asked, presenting me with a worn book that had a curly haired boy on the cover.

I just shrugged. "Sure, kid."

But then I caught the scent of her guilt and nerves. She gripped the book and shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and her guilt only smelled stronger as Lori moved behind the counter to ring her up.

I leaned down close to her. "There some reason I shouldn't let ya get that?"

"Well, um...it's not bad." She protested. "It's a series about a boy who finds out he can do magic. But mah parents said that was witchcraft and wouldn't let meh read it. They didn't like meh reading so much anyway."

"Why the fuck wouldn't they want ya to read?" I asked.

Marie looked surprised. "'Cause Ah should be talking to people or doing my piano lessons...something ladylike."

I couldn't imagine anything more "ladylike" than how sweet Marie looked when she curled up with a book, a dreamy smile on her face as she read.

"Readin' ain't ladylike?" I grunted.

"Mah momma always told meh Ah would never get a husband with my nose buried in a book." She said.

"It's alright to be smart, but not too smart, right?" Lori chimed in.

Marie nodded. "Mm-hmm."

"Bullshit."

Both girls turned to look at me. I leaned against the counter, angling my body more toward Marie. I didn't care if Lori listened, but I wasn't saying this for her.

"I might know how to fix broken shit and work with my hands—" Does punching count? "—but I don't know nothing about books and history and shit. Ya do, and that's a good thing. Don't let anyone tell ya fuckin' different, kid." I growled.

Marie blushed so fucking pretty for me and even smiled a bit. I wanted that smile to get bigger, needed to make my mate happy, to know that _I_ gave that happiness to her.

"You said it's a series." I continued, waiting for her nod. "Then get the rest."

She gave me exactly what I needed. Her face lit up and her mouth opened in surprise for a split second before she grinned like I'd given her Christmas. She ran off to get the rest of the books without thanking me, but I could smell the happiness in her scent, and that was thanks enough. I felt my lips twitch up into a smile as I watched her go.

"You...care for her."

I turned back to Lori, all traces of the smile gone. "Yeah. You gonna have a problem with that, _Lori_?"

She blinked at me and took a half step back. I'd used that tone on her before, knowing exactly what the underlying growl did to women. It scared her then too, but there had also been arousal in both our tones. But that was gone now, leaving just the dangerous look and a flash of gold in my eyes. I'd be damned if some old fling tried to set the cops on us or started shit just because she thought I didn't take care of my mate.

"No..." She said slowly. "I guess I really don't know you after all."

I held her gaze. "Never did."

"Well. I see you still know how to stroke a girl's ego." The corner of her lip twitched up in a bitter, half smile.

I didn't reply. Fuck her if she thought she could guilt trip me after the shit she said to Marie. She knew back then she was only a one night distraction, and now she wasn't even that.

"You make her happy." Lori continued. "And what you said to her...that was really sweet."

Now my lip drew up in a grimace. I knew I spoiled the kid and let her get away with damn near anything. Even when we fought, she held her own right up there with me. I'd never allowed anyone to yell at me or sass me the way she did, and I sure as fuck didn't dole out hugs and compliments to anyone else either. It was easy to do that for her though. Sometimes too easy, slipping into affections that weren't allowed in The Rules.

But that had always been at motels, in my truck, holed up in a back corner booth at a diner. No one else to see or bother us. Marie saw an entirely different side of me that I was still discovering myself and letting someone else catch a glimpse of it made my skin itch. I wanted to pull back on my Wolverine persona and drag Marie out of the store, back into my truck where it was just the two of us. The whole goddamn world could go to hell as far as I cared, so long as I had her.

"Logan, Ah—"

Marie paused awkwardly, balancing six more books in her arms. She looked between me and Lori and took a cautious step forward. I held out my arm to her and she didn't waste any more time walking up to me and settling against my side. She set the books on the counter, and I wrapped my arm back around her waist.

_Good little Marie-mate knows where she belongs._

She glanced up at me. "Ah could only find the last one in hardback."

"Ain't a problem, kid. I told you to get what you want." I said.

I guess she still didn't believe me about that. She always asked if she could have something, if it was alright, picking out the cheap stuff on sale. I didn't really know what to do about it. All the women I'd ever known were the exact opposite, just assuming I'd buy them shit because they spread their legs. I didn't know if I didn't treat Marie like that because she wasn't like that, or if she wasn't like that because I didn't treat her like that.

Lori rang up the books, and Marie watched the numbers on the cash register display. I didn't give a fuck. I fought in the cages for myself, not the money. The fuck did I need money for? I could literally live in the wilderness on my own, done that the first year or so. Money just bought convenient luxury items like clothes, a truck, and food I didn't have to kill myself. I had a shit ton of money saved up that I'd never do anything with, and I was more than happy to spend it on her. Show her what a good mate I would be and how well I could provide for her and shit.

Marie reached for one of the random things kept up at the counter for last minute purchases and nudged me. It was a bottle of pink nail polish. I raised an eyebrow at it, but she just looked at me with such pleading hope that I shrugged and didn't say anything when she added it to the pile of books. I definitely needed to get her away from here, where Lori couldn't see how whipped I'd become.

"If you need a place to stay tonight, you can stay at my house." Lori offered.

I tensed and scented the air for any hint that it was a trap or a come on. She must have noticed, because she held up her hands in surrender. Her scent had a tinge of sadness in it.

"It's just an offer, Logan. The old hotel closed about a month ago." She explained.

I waited.

"...And my car is making that noise again."

There it was.

"I promise the kids will leave you alone, but you're welcome to join us for dinner if you want." She continued.

I looked down at Marie. "That sound good, kid?"

She did well talking to just one person at a time, but she tended to shy away from crowds or meeting several people at once. Just another reason why I never took her with me when I went out, and she'd be better off not knowing most of the people I knew anyway.

Marie didn't answer.

"I can just keep driving if you want."

"Ah don't like to be touched." She announced. "Make sure yeh kids know that."

Lori looked surprised and a bit confused. Marie noticed and realized she'd been pressing back against me when she said she didn't like to be touched.

"Logan's okay." She mumbled.

_Damn fuckin' straight! Only one allowed to touch her, no one else!_

The Wolverine started up with his demands that we claim her, and my cock was twitching just from Marie's admission that I was the only one that could touch her. I didn't need that right now. I was trying to prove to all three of us that I was a responsible adult capable of keeping Marie safe, especially from myself.

"Alright, I'll tell them to be careful of your personal space. They really are well behaved." Lori promised.

"You still live in the same place?" I asked to keep my mind off my dick.

She nodded. "Yeah, down the road. I was just about to lock up anyway, so you can follow me there."

I nodded and Marie grabbed her bag of books off the counter. Lori didn't take long locking up the cash register and the front door, so Marie and I just got in the truck and waited for her. She smelled a little nervous about staying at Lori's house but also happy about the books.

"I meant what I said about us leaving if you want." I told her.

She just smiled back at me. "It's alrahght. Thanks for the books, sugah."

"Welcome, kid."

**A/N: Okay, so I'm writing this note four days in advance because at the moment of this update, I am on vacation. No work, no tutoring (second job), and no writing. I specifically worked my ass off just so I would have this chapter done and all I would have to do on Monday is upload it. Please congratulate me on how responsible I am to still give you updates in the middle of my vacation.**

**Also, I had no idea this Lori character was going to pop up. I just wanted them in a bookstore, and it just suddenly turned into this thing. I don't like unnecessary angst (key word: unnecessary), so I don't want there to be any huge misunderstandings where Marie thinks Logan is trying to hook up with Lori and doesn't love her anymore or something ridiculous like that. But I also don't think Marie and Lori's characters are capable of playing nice.**

**So how do you think they should interact? I have a couple of moments and a general outline of the next chapter planned out, but if you have really good suggestions, I'll try to work them in. A big thank you to Irishlass18 who inspired my plot bunny with the order of events I wanted to happen out of the options I listed last time! Like I said, review with good ideas and you'll be granted credit, a thank you, and a midnight visit from Logan...**


	13. Polly the Dolly

The house looked the same as I remembered it, but the yard bore the tell tale signs of a dozen different types of toys and bikes and just general fucking clutter. There was so much of it, I had to park off to the side of the driveway. Marie had held my hand the whole way over, not saying a word. Maybe this was a bad idea, but Lori made some damn good pie, and at least the kid would get to sleep in a real bed tonight.

I got out of the truck and the wind slammed the door behind me. A storm was coming soon, I could smell it in the air. Marie had just gotten her gloves pulled on when I opened her door and helped her out, wrapping an arm around her to protect her from the cold. We trudged up to the house through the light snow, where Lori struggled with the door. Still jammed. Maybe I'd fix that for her too before we left. Been twelve goddamn years that door's been stuck already.

I stepped forward and shoved my shoulder against the door, forcing it open with a groan. Lori smiled at me, and I moved back and placed my hand back on Marie's shoulder. We followed Lori into her house and we immediately greeted by screams.

"Mommy, mommy, tell him-"

"No, I didn't!"

"Yuh, huh! He's the one who-"

"My dolly!"

Two boys about the same age came rushing down the stairs with a younger girl trailing after them, sniffling and holding a doll that had stuffing coming out of a rip in its side. Lori strode forward and grabbed one boy's arm, dragging him over to stand next to his brother, then knelt down in front of the girl.

"It's okay, Elizabeth. Just calm down and tell me what happened." She said in a soothing voice.

Marie and I stood awkwardly in the doorway while the two boys stared at us. The older one stood in front of his smaller brother who peered around him to look at us. Marie waved.

"They ripped my dolly!" She wailed.

"We did not!" The older brother protested.

"It was an accident." The younger said at the same time.

"Alright, I don't care how it happened, you two know the rules about rough housing around your sister. Say you're sorry." Lori ordered.

"M'sorry, Lizzie."

The older didn't say anything until his brother nudged him. "Yeah. Sorry."

Lori scowled at him and opened her mouth to say something else, but the girl beat her to it.

"My dolly!" She repeated.

Lori looked at the ripped doll and suddenly seemed to run out of steam. The girl scrunched her face up in preparation of what would probably be a world class tantrum, but then Marie moved over and knelt in front of her.

"What's yeh dolly's name?" She asked.

The question threw the little girl so badly she forgot to cry and mumbled out a sullen answer instead.

"Polly."

The older brother rolled his eyes and the younger nudged him again.

"Alrahght, Elizabeth. Ah can fix Polly for yah, but yah have to calm down. Fair?" Marie said, using the same tone of voice Lori had.

The girl sniffled and nodded. Marie smiled at her, then turned to look at Lori.

"Do yah have a sewing kit?" She asked.

Lori nodded and stood up. "Yeah, I'll go get it for you. Boys, Rogue and Logan are our guests, so be nice." She started to walk off, then twisted around. "I mean it, Tanner!"

The older brother scoffed and glared at her back. The younger brother took that chance to dart out from behind him.

"I'm Sam."

Not to be outdone, the girl started shouting, "Lizzie, Lizzie, Lizzie!"

"Hey! She ain't gonna fix your doll if you don't be quiet, Lizzie." The older boy snapped.

"This is Tanner." The younger boy said, like it was an explanation.

"Hello." Marie said.

"Are you Logan or Rogue?" He asked.

"He's Logan. I'm Rogue."

"Rogue, like a traitor spy?"

"Sam, shut it."

"Polly?"

Marie turned back to the girl. "Ah'll fix Polly as soon as yeh mom gets back."

"We really didn't mean to rip it, Lizzie." The younger boy said, stopping with the questions.

The girl just sniffled sullenly at the younger boy. "Say sorry."

"We just did that, Lizzie." The younger boy replied.

"To Polly!" She insisted.

"I'm very sorry I hurt you, Polly." The boy said solemnly.

The two younger kids both turned to look at their older brother, who just glared back at them.

"No."

The girl did the face scrunch again.

"I ain't—"

She took several deep breaths in preparation.

"It's not even—"

One last long inhale.

"I'm sorry!"

The girl paused, still holding that last lungful of air hostage. She and her brother stared each other down, until her brother finally flinched.

"...Polly." He muttered through gritted teeth.

The little girl exhaled and deflated down to just an innocent child again, with no sign of the screaming demon she had almost become. Instead she turned to Marie and held out her arms.

"Hug." She demanded.

Marie leaned back. "Sorry, can't. Ah'm getting over the flu. Germs."

"Hug!"

The younger boy had wandered over to the window, but he turned back and yelled. "Hey, is that your truck?"

The girl had Marie trapped, and now the younger boy bounced on the balls of his feet like he was just about to ask me a dozen rapid fire questions. I considered just grabbing Marie and running straight back out the door. Before I could make a break for it though, the older boy straightened up from his slouch against the wall. He walked over and grabbed the girl, then turned to his brother.

"Sam, don't pester them." The girl struggled in his grip. "Lizzie, calm down. You promised to be good, remember?"

"Hug..." She whined, still grabbing at Marie, who stood up and backed away.

"I'm hugging you now. So just be still, and I'll rub your head." He replied.

The younger boy finally noticed the trouble with his sister and moved toward the two of them to help. His brother just glared at him and jerked his head in the direction Lori had went.

"I got Lizzie, go check on Mom." He ordered.

He hefted his sister up and held her against his side. I hadn't thought he was big enough to lift his sister like that, but he managed it with one arm, using his free hand to rub her head. She made sleepy noises against his neck.

His voice softened. "Give Polly to Rogue, Lizzie."

The girl whined, but thrust the doll out at Marie anyway. She carefully took it, and the older boy nodded at her.

"She missed her nap. I'll be back in a minute." He said flatly.

He carried his sister in the opposite direction Lori and his brother had went, leaving Marie and me alone. I pulled her back against me.

"We can still leave if you want." I whispered against her ear.

She relaxed into me. "They seem like good kids. Ah'll be alrahght."

"Sure, kid?"

She turned her head and nodded her answer against my shoulder. I wrapped my arm tighter around her torso. The older kid came back alone, his sister in bed or something. Marie stirred in my arms, but I took my damn sweet time straightening back up. I'd be damned if we leapt away like guilty, horny teenagers. I had a right to hold my mate, and that little shit had better not say nothing about it.

Kid actually managed to hold my gaze for a couple of seconds before he broke off and looked away. His brother came back into the front hall without his mother, and the older one glared in his direction instead.

"She fall asleep again?" He asked.

"Yeah."

The older kid sighed. "Alright, fine." He took a couple of steps, then looked back at us. "Come on then."

I raised an eyebrow at the cocky little shit, and he glared back at me for a few seconds before he whirled around and stomped out. I kept an arm slung around Marie as we followed him into the kitchen, where Lori was slumped over the table in front of a sewing kit. The younger brother silently slid the kit out of Lori's grasp and handed it to Marie. She took it and I moved over to check on Lori. She breathed slow and steady, fast asleep. I reached out to pull her chair back, but the little shit actually grabbed my hand. We both knew I could toss him across the room with a flick of my wrist, but he held on and glared at me.

"I'm just gonna carry her upstairs." I growled, low enough that Lori didn't wake.

He reluctantly let go, and I pulled Lori's chair back, lifting her up into my arms. She felt too light, much lighter than the last time I—well, the last time. I cast Marie a glace to be sure she didn't mind being left alone with the younger kid, but she just nodded at me, already caught up in examining the sewing kit. I left, and the little shit followed me out of the kitchen and upstairs, like I needed fucking supervising or something.

It only took a minute to carry Lori up the stairs and into her room, although the bed had been moved to the west wall, which threw me for a second. I laid her down under her kid's watchful eyes and slipped back into the hall. The instant I shut the door, the little shit glared at me again and folded his arms.

"I didn't say where her room was." He hissed.

"We've met before." I said in the same low growl.

"In her bedroom?"

"Yeah. Ya want me t'draw ya a picture?"

"You want me to slash your tires?"

I crouched down so we were on eye level. "Listen here, you little shit. If you do that, I won't be leaving tomorrow morning, so you want me gone...you stay the fuck away from my truck."

"You're just staying the night?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yeah."

"Then you can sleep on the couch."

"Fine."

The kid started to walk off, but I grabbed him and pulled him back. He tensed and shot me his meanest glare yet, but it didn't quite hide his flinch.

"What happened between me and yer mom was a long time ago, and I ain't here fer that. I jest want a warm bed fer my girl t'sleep in 'til the storm passes." I growled.

"Your girl ain't much older than me." He retorted.

"And she also ain't none of yer goddamn business."

"And my mom ain't none of yours."

We locked ours and shared a moment of male understanding. Then he yanked his arm out of my grip, and I stood up, and we didn't look at each on the way back down the stairs. Marie looked up when we got back to the kitchen, already half way done sewing up the doll. The younger boy sat beside her, chatting up a storm. He looked over at us too, paused, then launched into a new volley of questions.

"Is Mom still asleep? Did she wake up any? You put her in her room, right? Do you like spaghetti?" He asked.

"Goddammit, Sam. One question at a time." His brother snapped at him.

His little brother didn't seem put out at all and just stared at me like whether or not I liked spaghetti would decide the fate of the universe.

"Yes. No. Yes. What the fuck does that have to do with anything?" I replied.

"Sam likes spaghetti, and Ah can have it ready in twenty minutes. Please don't swear. Either of yah." Marie said, without looking up from the doll.

"Since when the fu—"

Marie looked up and glared at me, and I glared right back at her. No. No way would I start talking like some pansy ass do gooder. She narrowed her eyes further and stuck her lip out ever so slightly. I told myself not to look, it was a trap, I could resist, she did it on purpose...I looked. Her bottom lip was full and still a bit chapped from the cold. Probably be rough against mine for just a moment until I got it warm and wet and...

_Ya jest lost the game, bub._

"Can't. I. Swear."

"Not around children." She answered.

"We're no—"

"Yer a child." I muttered.

She sighed. "But Ah'm not Lori's child. And yah know she wouldn't approve of yah or them swearing. Plus, we're guests in her house."

"Yeah. Guests. So don't tell me what to do." The little shit sneered at her.

"Yah two wanna swear so bad? Fahne! Yah can jus' go out tah the garage then and cuss up a storm and eat motor oil!" Marie snapped, slamming the doll down and glaring at the two of us.

_Fuckin' love it when she gets feisty like this. All hot'n'bothered. Bet we could have some real good angry sex._

"I can still have spaghetti though, right?" Sam asked her, unable to keep quiet for so long.

"Yes, Sam. Yah may have spaghetti." She said in a deliberately calm voice. "Here. Take Polly to yeh sister."

"Don't wake her up!" The older kid yelled after his brother as he ran off with the doll.

Marie stood up and looked around. "Do yah know where yeh Mom keeps the pasta noodles and sauce, or should Ah just see what Ah can find?"

The little shit showed Marie around and she started getting out ingredients and pots and shit. I took a look in the fridge and found a clear bottle of amber liquid. Fuck yeah, beer. I definitely deserved a drink after putting up with all those brats. Fucking hated kids, little ankle biting—

I did a spit take in the sink. Not beer. Apple juice. Marie and the little shit laughed at me, and I glowered back at them.

"What'd you expect? That's my sister's apple juice, numbnu—skull."

"I thought it was beer."

"There's a TV in the living room, if you want to get out of the way." He snarked.

"There's some eggs in the fridge, if you want to suck one." I snarled.

Marie glared at me. "Logan..."

"What?" I demanded. "I didn't swear."

She sighed. "And your insults are getting more creative already."

The little shit crossed his arms. "Just leave so we can get this done."

I crossed my arms back at him. "You sure you don't need help, sugar?"

Marie started at the pet name. I knew that was her name for me, but there were too many goddamn brats here for me to call her kid.

"Um, yeah. Could yah jus'...move a little over there?" She motioned at me with her hand.

I moved to the right, and she waved at me again, so I took another step.

"Little more...just a little...further back..."

By that point, I had practically backed out of the kitchen. I raised an eyebrow at her, and she smiled innocently.

"Jus' see if yah can catch a game or something, an' Ah'll have this ready in twenty. Alrahght, sugah?" She asked.

I didn't appreciate being thrown out like I was fucking useless or something, but on the other hand, I really fucking enjoyed Marie playing the good little wifey, making me food and shit. I grunted at her to salvage my male dignity and swaggered off. The couch had stains and smells from several years hard use by small children, but I'd slept, sat, and fucked on things nastier than that. At least it just smelled like peanut butter and playdoh.

Nothing much on TV, but eventually I found a football game. It wasn't hockey, but at least there might be a chance of someone getting a concussion. I relaxed in front of the TV for about two minutes before the youngest brother came bouncing up and stood beside me. Not in front of the TV, he seemed to know better than that, but close enough in my peripherals to be a distraction.

"What?" I growled, not taking my eyes off the game.

"Why are you here?" He asked.

_Direct little fucker._

"Just holing up for the storm."

"How do you know Mom?"

"We met a long time ago."

"Doing what?"

I glanced over at him. "I was fighting at a bar."

"Do you fight a lot?"

"Yes."

"Why is your hair so funny?"

"Sam! Can yah come in here an' help meh?" Marie called.

The younger brother wandered into the kitchen, glancing back at me every few seconds. I heard Marie tell him to wash some dishes, and then I went back to watching the game in peace. I got about fifteen more minutes of quality man time before Marie yelled out that dinner was ready. I walked into the kitchen, and the table was already set with plates heaping with spaghetti. The younger brother had dragged her sister out of bed, and she sat at the table with Marie and the oldest brother.

"So who wants to say Grace?" Sam asked.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so maybe not the best ending, but I wanted to cut it off before things got too out of hand.**

**But you guys! YOU GUYS, LISTEN! I got puppies. I got motherfucking PUPPIES! There's a brown boy named Shiloh and a black girl named Lily. They're so fucking adorable, I just can't. I'm feeling maternal instincts for the first time in my life, except I don't think I'll ever love a child as much as I love these goddamn puppies. I'm actually posting this at 4AM because these little shits need to be fed every three hours, and since I'm already up, I might as well.**

**Still not entirely sure about Lori vs. Marie. I really don't want a big confrontation because I don't feel like Marie is self confident to tell her off and I don't feel like Lori is enough of a bitch to be awful to her. Right now, I'm thinking it would be more of a silent "I just really can't connect with you" sort of dislike, with maybe a bit of judgement coming from Lori's end.**

**Also, I got a guest review saying they would give me cookies in exchange for smut, and I actually received random, unexpected cookies today. There wasn't any way to work smut into this chapter, but now I feel obliged to sex it up a bit in the next. No solid promises, but I'll try!**


	14. Punishment

Dinner was awkward and silent, just the way I liked it. Even the little brother shut up long enough to scarf down his spaghetti. And afterwards it was late enough that the older brother put his sister back to bed, and after a quick run back out to the truck to get some spare clothes for me and Marie, I led her up to the guest room and got her situated. I lingered at the doorway, not actually walking inside and tucking her in because I didn't trust myself to get close and not just crawl in with her. By the time I got back downstairs, the two brothers were in their room and a scratchy blanket lay on the couch with a pillow that smelled like mothballs.

I watched late night shit for another hour or so before I gave up and switched it off. The lumps in the couch did little to cover the metal springs, and my feet hung over the end. The storm began to rage in earnest, the wind howling past the windows and making the house creak at random moments, which played hell on my nerves. Even worse, I didn't have a warm, soft Marie nearby.

But the Wolverine didn't complain or bitch about lumpy couches goddamn it, so I tossed and turned for another hour. But when the first flash of lightening lit up the windows, I was so fucking done. I didn't complain, but I also didn't do thunderstorms. Fuck that shit.

I made for the stairs, but ducked back into the shadows when I heard Lori's door open. She ran down the stairs, straight past me to the girl's room. The girl must have been fast asleep, because she crept out a moment later and went in the boys' room next. The storm would have made it impossible for anyone else to hear it, but she left the door open, and I could just make out their whispers.

"Mom?"

"Shhh, go back to sleep Sammy. It's just Mommy."

"Hey..." A different voice mumbled.

"Hey, little man. Did you make sure they ate?"

"Mm-hmm. Rogue made s'ghetti. She's upstairs."

Another flash of lightening and roll of thunder drowned out Lori's next question, but I could make a pretty good guess at who she asked about next.

"Couch."

"Alright. Sleep now. I love you."

"...love ya."

Lori came back out and glanced over at the couch. I walked out of the shadows, and she jumped. She recovered pretty quickly though and shot me a shaky smile.

"Did they give you any trouble?" She whispered.

I shrugged. "Nothing my girl couldn't handle. Fixed the doll, made dinner, gave me and your older boy both a lecture about swearing. Figured I'd fix your car in the morning."

"That's fine. Thanks for..."

"Like I said...Rogue did all the work. I just sort of got outta her way." I said.

Thunder and lightening cut off her reply again, and I had to fight down a growl at the sound. I really fucking hated thunderstorms.

"She seems like a good kid." Lori repeated softly.

"Yeah." I grunted.

She sort of nodded and slowly slipped past me. I could smell her nervousness as I followed her up the stairs, and she stopped in front of her bedroom door.

"Look, I'm just not—" She said at the same time I walked past her.

I turned at the sound of her voice, and her eyes darted behind me to the guest room I'd been headed for where Marie slept. We both stood still and silent, the moment growing more and more awkward. She bit her lip, and I could tell it was killing her not to say anything.

"Goodnight, Logan." Lori mumbled.

I nodded at her and walked away without replying. Me and my mate weren't any of her fucking business, and it was about goddamn time she accepted that. I managed to get inside the guest room before the next lightening bolt, but only barely. It lit up the room just as I kicked the door shut behind me, the sound drowned in the roar of the thunder. I couldn't hold back a snarl this time, and Marie sat up with a jolt, looking around wildly until she saw me. Then her whole body relaxed into a sleepy slouch and she tried to smile at me through a yawn.

"Hey, sugah. What's wrong?" She asked.

I stayed silent and walked forward. She scooted over to make room for me and lifted the blanket without even being asked. Another flash of lightening lit up the room, and I crawled in next to her. I buried my face against her neck and let out a low growl that nearly ended in a whine when the thunder hit. She laid back and pulled me closer, running her fingers through my hair and letting me lay half on top of her. I nuzzled my face against her skin and let out another growl when I felt something metal scratch against my face.

My tags. Her tags, now. Kid had worn them to bed with her. She froze beneath me, and the moment almost became awkward, but she relaxed back into the bed when I rubbed my cheek against her neck again.

"Yah don't like the thunder?"

Why'd it have to fucking lightening? Whoever was up there, I wanted to meet them just so we could have a real long fucking talk about how it wasn't okay to mix lightening and blizzards. That shit just shouldn't exist.

"Don't like the lightening. Thunder's just a reminder." I muttered, nuzzling against her hair.

_Soft, warm, sweet...so sweet...wanna bury inside her, never pull back out._

Another flash and crash, and I pressed my fist flat against the mattress, trying to resist the urge to pop my claws. Marie reached up and stroked down my arm until she reached my hand. She traced random patterns on the back of my hand until I could unclench my fist, then twined her fingers in between mine. I tried to pull away, but she tightened her grip so that I would have to rip my hand out of hers to get away.

"Shh, sugah. Jus' relax." She soothed, still petting my hair.

The next roll of thunder came and went, but I wouldn't—couldn't—even think about releasing my claws with Marie's fingers still in the way. I expected the stress of keeping them in to make me even more tense, but once it became a question of hurting my mate, it was the easiest thing in the world to keep them in. I'd do anything to keep her safe, even from myself.

"Whah don't yah lahke the lah-ghtening?" She drawled in a voice thick with sleep and Mississippi.

I hate to bite back a groan at how good it sounded. "...been hit before. Twice."

"How'd yah manage that?" She sounded a bit more awake with interest and concern.

"Claws are metal. So're my bones."

"Alluv'em?" Maybe not quite awake yet.

I grunted out an affirmative against her neck.

"How?"

"Dunno."

Took me a damn while to figure it out. But with the kind of life I lived, all the fights and shit, it didn't take long for me to get fucked up enough to catch a glimpse of what should have been bone and see the sheen of metal instead. Marie had fallen silent, leaving just the sounds of the storm and thunder. I only held out for a few minutes before I couldn't stand not hearing her sweet voice any longer.

"Sing?" I mumbled into her shoulder, nosing her shirt to the side ever so slightly.

She gave a soft laugh. "Sugah, Ah can't carry a tune tah save mah lahfe."

"Mmm, try."

Another sliver of pale, bare skin for me to rub my face against. It took all of my will power not to lay open mouth kisses along her neck, lap at her pulse point, and breathe in her ear.

"All Ah know is gospel."

I let out a huff. I did _not_ need to hear about Jesus while I was busy trying to subtly molest my underage mate without her noticing.

"Well...there's a song Ah heard on the radio once. Ah loved it, but Ah don't know if yah'd lahke—"

"Just sing, kid."

She started out humming, and she was right. Poor kid wouldn't know what to do with a tune if it jumped down her throat. The Wolverine tried to pipe up with his ideas of what else could be shoved down her throat, but I pushed him back down as her humming grew firmer and started to make more sense.

"We'd be so less fragile, if we're made from metal, and our hearts from iron, and our minds from steel..." Marie sang in a wistful, whisper soft voice.

She released my hand to trace along my hand and arm as she sang about the metal, rubbing my side briefly at the iron heart bit. I wondered if the mind of steel was for her.

"If we built an armour, for our tender bodies, could we love each other, would we strive to feel..."

Her voice was soft and unsteady, and even though I'd never heard the song before, I knew some of the notes were wrong. But I didn't care if she drawled, whispered, or sang horribly out of tune. My mate's voice calmed me down.

"You want three wishes: One to fly the heavens, one to swim like fishes..."

Heh. Those must be her wishes. Two things I wouldn't ever being doing any time soon. Flying and swimming, hell no. Fuck that heights and underwater shit. Her voice was still sweet and soothing though, and I let out a deep breath, relaxing against her even as the storm kept going strong outside.

"You want never bitter, and all delicious..."

Her voice got slower and softer, singing one line at a time. I inhaled her scent in deep lungfuls, drowning in how good she felt beneath me. Damn right, delicious.

"And a clean conscience, and all it's blisses..."

Mmm, fuck a clean conscience. I'd take my Marie any day. Take care of her, protect her, even wait for her...but I knew damn well what I was doing wasn't "right."

_Fuck it, she's **ours**._

"You want one true lover with a thousand kisses..."

My little Marie mate.

"You want soft and gentle and never vicious..."

Can do that for you, baby.

_Try so hard to be good fer ya._

"And then one you're saving for a rainy day..."

I was out before she even finished her song, the storm forgotten in favor of her soft skin and even softer voice.

* * *

"You know what you did wrong, Marie."

She whimpered, but didn't say anything, knowing better than to interrupt me or protest. I waited for just a few more moments to be sure, then smirked when she behaved.

"And now you're here because you were bad."

_Here_ being on the bed, wrists tied to the head frame with my leather belt. Her legs weren't tied down, but she kept her knees spread for me, even as her thighs trembled, which did all kinds of wonderful for that pert little ass of hers. I sat in a nearby chair, just as naked as she was and enjoying the view.

"But you're going to be a good little girl for me now, aren't you Marie?"

I could hear her shallow breaths speed up, but she didn't answer the question.

"Aren't. You."

"Y-yes, Logan." She gasped.

I rewarded her with a low growl of approval and flared my nostrils when the sound made her scent grow even sweeter. She shifted on the bed, trying to gain a precious bit of friction between her legs, but stilled immediately when she heard me stand up. I grabbed my spare belt off the dresser as I walked over to her, and she let out another gasp when she heard the clank of the metal buckle. I stood beside her at the bed and put my free hand on her lower back, smoothing over it and forcing her to arch her ass up.

She didn't have on a blindfold—this time—but she kept her head bowed and face pressed against the pillow in submission anyway. I stroked her back a few more times, then gripped my belt by the buckle. She whimpered and started to tense, but I rubbed her back and made a low soothing sound in the back of my throat until she relaxed again.

Then I snapped the leather across her ass, just above her thighs.

She yelped and jumped, but it only stung. I hadn't done it hard enough to leave behind a welt or bruise of any kind. This might be a punishment, but I would never physically hurt my mate. Sweetly torture, on the other hand...

I chuckled and leaned down to lap at the fading red mark, soothing the burn with my tongue. She moaned and tried to push back against my face, but I kept a tight hold on her hip with my other hand. She whimpered with loss when I straightened back up, then yelped and whined when I smacked her ass with the leather again. I grinned widely at the sweet little noises she made and licked the second red stripe on her creamy skin.

Eight strokes later, and her punishment was done, leaving us both a mess. She lay partially collapsed on the bed, head and forearms completely resting against the pillow and ass in the air. Wetness dripped down her thighs and filled the entire room with her arousal. I stepped back and breathed through my mouth to try to keep my breaths steady. Her sweet scent was killing me by inches, but she didn't need to know how close she brought me to losing control.

"L-Lo...please..." She whimpered, trying to clench her thighs against the ache, but her limp muscles threatened to give out completely.

I dropped the belt and placed my hand back on her hip to steady her, and she moaned at the contact, burying her face in the pillow. She tried to hide it, but I could still see her blush flushing down her neck and up to the tips of her ears.

"Please, what?" I demanded.

She made a high pitched keening sound, unable to answer. I knew exactly what she needed, but this was supposed to be a punishment, not a reward.

"What do you want, kid?" I asked anyway, unable to stop myself.

"Let...let me..."

Let her? Like she had to ask for goddamn permission before I _let her_ come. The thought burned through me and went straight to my cock, and I lost the fucking game.

"Gotta ask fer it, Marie."

I always wondered if I could get her off with just the sound of my voice, and right the fuck now seemed like a great time to test that theory. She didn't answer, so grasped my cock with my free hand and started a rhythm that was steady, but too slow.

"Look at me."

She lifted her head slowly and twisted slightly to look around at me. Her reaction was immediate and immensely satisfying. Her mouth dropped open in a perfect little O and her hips jerked, trying to align herself with my cock despite her limited freedom.

"Logan, please! Let me come please, I need..." She trailed off, still staring desperately at my cock.

At the sound of her begging, I gave myself an extra firm stroke and snapped my hips forward at her. She panted through her open mouth, straining against the leather binding her wrists.

"But ya were bad. And ya only get my cock when yer a good little girl." I growled.

She whimpered and thrashed on the bed.

"Ya did behave fer yer punishment though...so maybe ya can still get somethin'." I teased her mercilessly.

Her eyes darted up to my mouth, and I raised my eyebrow at her.

"Ya didn't behave that good, kid."

I stepped away and I'm pretty sure she damn near dislocated her wrists trying to get to me.

"Marie." I snapped.

She stopped moving with a reluctant whimper.

"Ya get t'watch and listen. 'Cause I know whatcha need, baby girl."

She swallowed thickly, and I smirked, imagining her doing the same on her knees.

"Ya need my cock, dontcha? Rammed so fucking deep ya can feel me in yer goddamn stomach."

She gasped and trembled, rubbing her thighs together. This time I didn't stop her.

"How d'ya want me? Real fuckin' slow so ya can feel every inch of me sliding in deep?"

She didn't answer, but I didn't hold it against her. I doubted she even could at this point, and I was too caught up in the new game to wait for her reply anyway.

"Doesn't matter. 'Cause I'd give it t'ya hard and fast. Mount ya and jest pound into that swee—"

Her desperate sob made me pause. For a second I thought she was crying, but then I heard her soft mumbles, nearly muffled against the pillow.

"Please, please, please..."

I let loose a harsh snarl at hearing her pleas.

"Yeah, kid. Go ahead and cum. Cum fer me, Marie."

She fell apart in front of me, moaning and bucking her hips, and I lost the new game too. Not that any of our little games actually had a loser. She finally fell over onto her side and lay trembling on the bed, arms still raised above her head and bound to the headboard. I wrenched my hand away from my cock and slid into bed next to her, spooning her from behind. I needed to feel her, needed to touch her. She pressed back against me, exhausted yet still wound tight from the unsatisfactory orgasm, and happily accepted my cock grinding against her lower back.

The urge to roll over on top of her and slam inside was almost overwhelming, but I just barely managed to hold myself in check and settle for the tight fit of my cock pressed between my stomach and her back, the smell of her sweet scent and blood nearly overwhelming me as I put one hand on her clothed hip and—

Wait, what the fuck? Why did I smell blood and when did Marie put clothes on? And what was that banging coming from downstairs and since when did this hotel room even _have _a downstairs and where had the Wolverine gone to in my head and—

I opened my eyes to see Marie laying curled up in my arms. That much at least was real. But she had a nightgown on, and I had on my sleeping sweats. It took me another moment to place where we were, Lori's guest room. I could still smell the blood, and Marie was definitely still on her period.

And I had been grinding up against her ass while we slept.

Fuck, she was asleep right? I stopped my rocking motion with great effort and waited for several seconds to be sure. She sighed softly, but her breathing stayed deep and even. I didn't know whether to be relieved she didn't notice or actually kind of pissed. I took a deep, calming breath and nearly choked when I finally noticed the underlying scent beneath the smell of blood and my own arousal, so faint I nearly missed it. It smelled the same as it had in my dream, sweet and heady and so fucking good...

Marie was aroused, even if only slightly.

_She's ready, fertile, wet! Claim our mate, we're so close, so fuckin' close..._

There was the Wolverine, howling in my head again now that I was awake. But I would be damned if our first mating happened while she was still half asleep, under someone else's roof. I rolled over and tried to pretend that the pathetic whine I heard didn't come from my mouth. My erection throbbed and hurt, making it damn near impossible to focus on anything else but the smell of my mate, willing and fertile.

I concentrated all of my willpower and got out of the bed, stumbling to the door despite the roared protests in my head. I opened the door just wide enough to scent the air outside and check that the hall was empty. It was, and I walked down the hall, my erection bobbing painfully against my stomach. It was more of a bow legged waddle, actually. I paused in front of the bathroom just long enough to listen for the sound of a heartbeat on the other side of the door, then slipped inside. I turned the cold water on full blast, grit my teeth to prepare myself, and got in the shower.

The cold water hit me harder than any punch, and my muscles tensed up as I fought to keep from shivering. I couldn't keep jacking off to the thought of Marie. Eventually, I would have to learn to control my dick. The Wolverine was pissed though, battering me with images of our mate tied to the bed, begging for release. They were just fantasies though, my sick fantasies. But when he switched and reminded me of the real Marie's soft sigh, her scent tinged my the faintest scent of arousal, my willpower crumbled.

My hand wrapped itself around my cock before I could think to stop it, my other fumbling behind me to shut off the water. I fell heavily back against the wall, legs spread for better leverage and hand pumping desperately. My lips drew back over my teeth as I snarled and jerked my hips, imagining how I could have made her scent so much thicker, didn't even fucking care she was on her period, it would just heighten my chances of my seed filling her belly with my cubs, my beautiful little Marie mate—

A roar threatened to build in my throat, and I shoved my hand into my mouth, nearly biting through the damn thing while my other hand worked feverishly. The taste of my own blood in my mouth only took me higher as I came, my vision going dark for several impossibly long, heart stopping seconds. When I finally regained awareness, the shower wall was a mess, blood dripped down one hand, and I was still snarling weakly.

That was why I couldn't take Marie now. I couldn't lose control like an animal with her the way I just had.

* * *

**A/N: So there's the promised smut, and I think it went fairly well, if I do say so myself. I tried to include a bit more detail about Logan jacking off this time because I know you perverts like that sort of thing ;D**

**The song is Three Wishes by The Pierces. They're not my favorite band, but it's a really good song that I encourage you to listen to. And it's pretty much the only relevant thing I have in my library that I can believe Marie would listen to. Also, the last line of the song is, "If your lover ever takes her love away."**

**I mentioned this in TBH last week, but just in case you missed it, my NEW blog is at morganofthefey . wordpress . com. I'm going to put a sneak peek of next week's new BBW chapter up on that blog every Saturday, so look out for it and check out some of the regular posts too!**

**To Juls the Guest Reviewer: In this time line, they're about to hit Christmas, so as soon as this Lori thing is over, I'm moving on to that. After Christmas, I think I'll jump forward to spring. I tried to make the chapters longer earlier, but unfortunately, I just don't have the time to write that much. So the next few really big plot points will happen with big time jumps between, ie Plot Point A, then three months later, the next chapter will be about Plot Point B. It is pretty slow going right now, but I promise I'm going to start aging Marie up and moving things along.**

**To Elsie the Guest Reviewer: Yes, my puppies are adorable and A LOT of work. I agree that Marie and Lori will just silently disagree and disapprove of one another.**

**To Anonymous Guest (who reviewed for ch 12): I'm not sure when the subject of kitlings will come up between Marie and Logan (talking about children and whether or not they want to have them) but I do want it to happen eventually. So watch for that.**


	15. Logan Says Grace

By the time I got out of the shower, Marie had already gotten up, and I traced her scent downstairs to the kitchen. Lori worked on breakfast while Marie sat with the boys in the living room, talking about those Pokemon things Marie had been hunting on her game-thing earlier. Their conversation stopped when I leaned against the doorway, and Marie turned to smile at me.

"Yah up early this morning, shuggs. It's only ten." She said.

Shuggs, sugah, Lo'...she could call me whatever she damn well pleased as long as she kept smiling at me like that, like I was the most important thing in the world to her.

I shrugged. "Figured I'd get a head start on the car."

"Can you really fix it? Where'd you learn to fix cars? Have you ever been arrested before?" Sam asked, rapid fire.

"Sam! Don't pester the poor man, he just woke up." Lori scolded, coming in from the kitchen. "Breakfast will be ready in twenty."

I glanced at Marie again. She gave me another reassuring smile, so I nodded at Lori and went out to the garage, grabbing my jacket off the rack while I went. The garage still hadn't been cleaned and still didn't have heat, but at least the toolbox hadn't been moved. I opened it up and checked that everything I needed was still there, then popped the hood. If it really was making the same noise it had been last time, then the problem might be the same, which meant it wouldn't take me more than an hour, two tops, to fix it.

I checked the engine, and it looked like that was the case. I walked around and started the car anyway, just to be sure. It started okay, but when I settled in the driver's seat and revved the engine, it sounded like a jet was taking off. Cylinder three was definitely misfiring again, forcing the others to pick up the slack and straining the engine. It made it damn difficult to accelerate quickly and was hell on the transmission. She's fucking lucky I came along again before she blew the whole thing out. I had just taken the keys out of the admission when the little shit opened the garage door and walked over to the car.

"Hey asshole, food's ready." He sneered.

"I thought you told Rogue you wouldn't cuss." His little brother piped up, peering in from the doorway.

"She said I could in the garage." The older brother replied. "So if I wanna call him an asshole, I will."

I saw Marie walking up behind the younger one and kept my mouth shut.

"Ah also said yah would be eating motor oil if yah did. So are yah gonna shape up and help set the table or are yah gonna grab a bottle an' start gargling?" She asked, hands on her hips.

Damn, my girl looked hot when she got all sassy like that.

"Yeah, I'm comin'." The brat muttered.

"Thank yah. Oh, and sugah? Wash up first." She ordered.

I grinned. "Yes ma'am."

She blushed and whirled around, leading the boys inside behind her. The older brat flipped me off behind his back as he walked away, but my girl didn't miss a damn thing.

"And Tanner, yah best put that finger away 'fore yah lose it."

I snickered.

_Our Marie-mate'd be a damn good mama, keepin' our cubs in line._

Fuck, where'd that come from?! I'd never even thought about kids before yesterday, much less having them, and now the Wolverine was thinking of putting our cub in her belly. And not just the act, but all the after stuff too, like holding the little fuckers and teaching them how to fight and hunt and shit.

"Logan...?" Marie's voice called.

I slammed the car door shut.

_How 'bout we wait until she ain't a kid to think 'bout makin' our own with her, huh bub?_

He just growled at me and sent images of a little boy with our hair and her eyes, a strong little cub. She'd probably be fierce as a hellcat protecting our young, too. But those thoughts were starting to freak me out, so I shoved him back down and walked inside, stopping off at the bathroom in the hall to wash my hands. The smell of food worked as a good distraction, and when I came back out, I saw one of the spots at the table already had a plate filled with sausage and bacon and Canadian bacon and eggs. Fuck yeah, protein.

"Logan! Wait for everyone else. An' take off yah jacket." Marie said, glaring at me.

She hadn't got her food yet, and was instead serving a plate for the little girl, while Lori made one for the youngest boy. The older one already had his plate and sat across from me at the table. I swallowed and set my fork down, shrugging off my jacket. The little shit saw and silently mouthed "pussy whipped" at me. I kicked out beneath the table, catching the bottom of his seat with my foot. The front of his chair tipped up and the back legs slid out from underneath him, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Tanner! How many times have I told you not to lean back in your chair?!" Lori demanded, turning around just in time to see him fall.

"Sorry mom." He said, scowling at me when she turned back around.

I smirked.

"Why don't you say Grace, Logan?" The stupid little fucker asked, all wide-eyed innocence.

"Uhh..."

Fuck you, you shit eating bastard little prepubescent piece of maggot taint. Your hairless baby balls haven't even dropped yet, and I fucked your mother with the handle of a ping pong paddle while she begged for my big fat cock, so I'd tell you to suck on that, except she already did. You fucking think about that when she kisses you goodnight.

"It's easy! You just say thank you to Jesus for all the good things in your life, like the food." The younger brother explained.

I breathed deeply and concentrated on keeping my reply kid appropriate. "Why would I thank Jesus? Lori cooked it."

"Because his blessings provided it for us." He replied.

He looked so fucking serious about it, like the poster child for a Catholic choir boy. He probably got a lot of adults with that innocent, praise be to Jesus look, but I knew it wasn't blessings providing food for them. It was Lori working nine to five and then some, trying to keep her business afloat while being a single mother at the same time. And I could guarantee that food could still be found without money or blessings or anything else except bare hands and an empty stomach.

But even I wasn't enough of a bastard to explain that to a little kid. Life would probably teach him that soon enough anyway. So when everyone had taken their seat, I closed my eyes, because that's what I'd seen people do for some reason when they prayed. Now how had Marie started off last night?

"Dear Jesus," I muttered through gritted teeth. "Thanks for the food."

There, I'd thanked him for the fucking food. But no one moved, and Marie's prayer had been a lot longer. Maybe I needed to say something else, but fuck if I knew what it was. More thanks for something I was grateful for? Shit, everything I had, I damn well _earned_. Marie reached over and squeezed my hand, and I realized that maybe Jesus had given me something I hadn't earned or deserved. If God created everything, even people, then He made Marie, and I was damn grateful for her.

"And for...Rogue. And uh...for blessing Lori with her bra—kids."

There, I even through something in for Lori since it was her house. I didn't like the little fuckers, but she probably did. And that was three things I'd said thanks for, which sounded like enough to me. But I knew there was some special word for ending this damn thing...something like women...but not.

"Uh..."

"Amen." Marie whispered so quiet only I could hear her.

"Amen." I repeated.

Everyone else repeated it, and Marie gave my hand an extra squeeze before letting go. She reached for her fork, so I figured it was safe for me to start eating again, and I shoved more eggs in my mouth before anyone could start talking to me.

"That was very nice, Logan." Lori said, not taking the fucking hint.

I grunted at her and took another bite.

"So Rogue, I heard you talking to Sam and Tanner. You like Pokemon too?" Lori asked.

My Marie was much more polite. "Yes, ma'am. Logan bought me a gameboy with the first three games."

"I'm surprised he knew what that was."

Marie giggled. "He didn't."

I nudged her leg in warning, and she didn't explain despite Lori's raised eyebrows.

Lori turned her attention back to me. "How does the car look?"

"Same." I grunted.

"Will it take long to fix?"

"Hour."

"What's the matter with it?"

I swallowed my food and chugged my glass of orange juice. Lori waited, obviously expecting that to be a sign I would stop eating and give her some sort of detailed fucking explanation.

"Engine."

I held her gaze as I deliberately took another overly large bite. Marie kicked my leg this time, but I ignored her and concentrated on my food again. Lori finally got the fucking hint, and the boys were too busy stuffing their own faces to talk. A damn good thing too, since that youngest one thought it was okay to plenty twenty question every time I looked at him. The silence lasted all of three seconds before the little girl piped up.

"Polly wants a tea party." She announced.

Oh fuck no. I grabbed my plate and jacket and stood up, backing away from the table while still shoveling food in my mouth. No one said anything when I walked back out to the garage, not even Marie. She'd done real well handling Lori and the brats so far. She'd be fine for another hour until I got the car fixed. I tossed the fork on the workbench next to the toolbox and ate the rest with my hands. No point in pretending with nobody else around.

I finished off my plate, put my jacket back on, and got started on the engine. I'd only been working at it for ten minutes before I started thinking about seconds. That was the downside to my escape—I couldn't go back for seconds. I sighed. Some sacrifices had to be made.

"Logan?"

I looked up and saw Marie standing in the doorway, holding another plate of food. Oh fuck _yes_.

_Good little mate. Should give her a fuckin' reward..._

I swallowed and tried to ignore the Wolverine's thoughts on our dream last night, and the sort of reward I had given her then. She stepped into the garage and offered me the plate with glove covered hands. I took it and set it on top of my other plate, next to the fork. She waited for a few seconds, but it was too soon after the dream. I knew I hadn't hugged her yet this morning, had barely even touched her at all, but I didn't trust myself to touch her right now.

"Thanks, kid." I muttered.

She smiled and nodded, but I could tell it was faked. But I held out even when she turned away and started walking back, right up until I smelled her sadness. I couldn't let her be sad, thinking she'd done something wrong when it was really just me being an asshole who couldn't control his dick.

"Marie."

She paused, and I grabbed her arm, pulling her back to me. I pressed my chest to her back, but kept our hips slightly apart. The last thing I needed was her pert little ass pushing up against my—

"Thanks fer the food and uh..."

Holding me while I whimpered like one of those little bitch dogs that's afraid of thunder.

"...singing fer me."

She grabbed my hand with her own and tilted her head to the side just enough that I could smell her better. I didn't know if she did that on purpose, but I tried to convince myself it was just an accident and resist the urge to nip at her neck.

"Yah welcome, Logan."

She just smelled happy now, all of that earlier hint of sadness gone. I wanted to keep holding her, nuzzle into her hair, bite her neck and mark her as mine. I let go instead, taking a large step back. She turned around and smiled at me, a real one this time.

"Ah know yah'll probably be done before then, but Lori invited us for lunch." She said.

"You want to stay until then?" I asked, leaning back against the car.

She nodded. "Yeah. But Ah don't want to stay much longer than that."

"Alright, kid. We'll leave after lunch and be in the next town by nightfall."

"Rooooo...tea party!" The little girl's voice called from inside.

Marie gave me a slightly rueful smile and waved before she called that she was coming and walked back inside. I immediately grabbed the plate and started eating again so I wouldn't stare at her ass while she walked away. I would just eat my problems. Women did that shit all the time.

A little over an hour later, I had the car running smoothly again, with the engine fixed and the oil changed. I slammed the hood back down with satisfaction and washed up again in the bathroom. I hadn't heard much noise from the house while I had been working on the car, and I couldn't hear much now. I wandered into the living room to investigate and saw Marie sitting on the couch with the remnants of what had apparently been a tea party scattered around her.

"Logan! Yeh done!" Marie cried the instant I stepped into the room.

That was my first warning.

"Hey, kid. Whatcha doin'?" I grunted.

She sat on the couch with her feet propped up on a pillow. I couldn't smell any fear or pain in her scent, so I didn't think she'd twisted her ankle, but I knew something was definitely up. She just gave me a bright smile though and wiggled her toes at me.

That was my second warning.

"Wolvie an' Ah are having a sleepover." She answered, still grinning at me.

I raised an eyebrow. "In the middle of the day?"

"Well, everyone else is asleep. Lori put Elizabeth down for her nap, and Sam followed her, and then Lori went to lay down for a few minutes. But that was half an hour ago, so Ah think she'll be out until it's time to make lunch. Tanner is in his room doing homework. And besides, Ah've never gotten to have a sleepover before, so Ah'll take what Ah can get."

I just nodded and let Marie chatter on. She acted real quiet around strangers, but damn that girl could talk once you got her going.

"Do yah like 'em?" She asked, wiggling her toes again to show off her pink toenails.

"Uhhh..."

Like I gave a flying fuck what color her toenails were painted. I never understood why women bothered with nail polish anyway, goddamn stuff smelled awful. But it clearly made Marie happy, so how bad could the stuff be?

"Ah think they're dry now. Yah don't mind the smell too bad, do yah?" She gave me a worried look as I shrugged out of my jacket.

"Nah. Ain't pleasant, but I don't mind."

Worth it to see you smile like that.

"Here, let me help." She said when I sat down at the end of the couch to take my boots off.

She scooted over to where I sat and dropped down to undo the laces. That should have been my third warning, but I was too busy concentrating on not concentrating on Marie kneeling between my legs to notice. And then she gave me such a sweet smile, all I could do was stare down at her like a jackass.

Soon she had my boots off and placed neatly in the corner, and I settled in on the playdoh couch to watch TV, finally finding a game of hockey going. I'd eaten good food and spent the morning fixing a car, some real manly shit. And my sweet little Marie lay on the other end of the couch with her legs in my lap, and she'd changed into the only dress she owned for some reason, leaving her legs bare from the knees down. I tried to watch the game instead of thinking about how good her bare legs looked. At least it was winter, so it would be too cold for her to wear it outside, around other people. That dress made her look so goddamn pretty, and I didn't think I could fucking handle anyone else seeing her in it.

It was a damn fine game on, but it was nothing compared to the distraction of her legs rubbing against my thighs. She had her game-whatever out, and was mashing buttons and biting her lower lip in a way that made me pray her legs didn't brush up against anything any higher in my lap. Every time something happened in her game, she would bite her lip, smash a button, and shift a bit. Her feet and ankles pressed into my thighs with every little kick, until I could barely even see straight. Finally I grabbed her ankles and held her feet just to make her stop. She looked back and gave me a sheepish look but didn't try to pull her feet out of my grip.

Women have a lot of sexy parts. In the last fifteen years, I thought I'd touched, licked, and fucked all them. Full, soft breasts that fit perfectly even in hands as large as mine, with perky little nipples just begging to be sucked. Pert, round asses pressed up snug against my hips or bent over a convenient table. Legs that go on for miles and that shivery spot on a woman's neck, just behind her ear. And all kinds of pussy, shaved and natural and pierced, from damn near every race and ethnicity.

Those are the parts I'd always found sexy on a woman. But it was the damnedest little bits of Marie that I was suddenly finding just as erotic as the obviously sexy parts. Like her ankles. I'd never thought of a woman's ankles as particularly sexy, but hers were delicate and somehow feminine. Maybe it was because her skin felt so soft or because of the way her feet had such high arches, but once my hand grabbed her ankles, I couldn't make myself let go.

But running my hand along her legs would eventually lead to running my hand up her legs, in between her thighs, so I compromised and kept my hand below her knees. That was okay, right? Nothing pervy about that, just a nice little foot rub for my girl. She wasn't complaining either, just making those sweet humming noises she did whenever she was especially happy.

Between the meat still sitting in my stomach, Marie's humming, and only getting a few hours of sleep last night, I felt a nap creeping up on me too. Marie didn't seem like she planned on taking one of her own, but she might. She didn't really sleep at night, but she napped for a few hours during the day every now and then, and I tried to make sure it was often enough that she didn't get sleep deprived. I didn't know what exactly her girl troubles did to her, and I didn't really want to know, but they definitely kept her awake.

Past couple of nights before we stayed here, I'd fallen asleep before her, listening to her hum while she read or sketched. She stayed in the bed with me and sometimes caught a few hours in the morning before noon, and she never made enough noise that I couldn't sleep, so I didn't mind any. Just as long as she slept when she could and didn't get sick or nothing.

So eventually I started to nod off, leaving Marie to her own devices while I dozed. I thought because of my nightmares she'd know better than to try to pull shit while I was sleeping, and yet I woke up to the smell of nail polish and something tickling my big toe.

"Fuck you doin', kid?" I mumbled, still not quite awake.

Marie looked up from between my legs, guilty surprise on her face, and her mouth open in a silent O.

_Don't know what kinda stunt she's pullin', but looks t'me like she's jest beggin' t'be spanked._

"Uhm..."

Then I saw the bottle of nail polish in her right hand and the brush in her left, still coated in pink. I slowly lowered my gaze to my foot, and there it was, a long pink stripe across my big toenail. I looked back up at the kid, who looked back at me with wide eyes and a nervous smile.

"What. The. Fuck."

I didn't raise my voice, but my soft words seemed to scare her more than if I had shouted. Good. Damn cocky kid should be scared. That spanking was starting to look better with every passing second.

"Well, uh Ah told yah Ah was having a sleepover. An' it's jus' that Ah nevah really got to have one before 'cause Ah never had any girl friends, an' Ah jus' always wanted..."

"Do I look like one of ya girl friends?" I growled.

Her eyes dropped to her hands. "Well, no. Ah jus'...um, we...yah are mah friend." She looked back up at me with her big hazel eyes. "Rahght, Logan?"

Fuck fuck fuck. I was supposed to be pissed at her, not shifting uncomfortably and clearing my throat. And she was still kneeling in between my fucking legs. I hauled her up back onto the couch and tried to look menacing. But god-fucking-dammit, how could I be angry at her when she was looking at me, asking if we were friends? I'd be anything for her.

_Fuck yeah, we're friends. We could be real good friends, best friends, the kind that fuck ya real nice and good and don't let ya be friends with anyone else._

"Yeah, but I ain't a girl." I finally muttered.

"Ah know yeh a man."

_Yeah? How 'bout ya bring that sweet little ass o'yers over here and lemme show ya._

"But Ah don't have any girl friends 'cause...well, yeh all Ah got, sugah."

_All mine, sweet little Marie-mate._

"No one else is in here, so it's not lahke anyone would evah know! It'd be our secret, jus' between the two of us." She finished.

Just me and her. The two of us. Shit, did she even know how badly I wanted that, how fucking desperate I was to have that? She kept looking at me like I was the only thing in her world, and I wanted something that was ours and ours alone. I'd already marked her with my tags, and the stupid fucking nail polish suddenly seemed like an absurd version of that.

And she was damn right no one would ever know about this, not a goddamn soul. I wore my boots everywhere I went. Hell, I even kept them on when I fucked. Didn't need to take off my boots to get out my cock and it made leaving quicker. Only time I ever took them off was when I slept.

"Please, Logan?" She asked.

_Love the sound of her beggin'..._

_You ain't pissed about this?_

_Do anything fer our mate. And if paintin' our goddamn toes is all it take t'make her happy, she can paint 'em fuckin' rainbow stripes._

Well shit.

To her credit, she had them done in minutes, without even a speck of nail polish on my skin. She made me wait a full ten minutes before I could put my boots back on so the paint wouldn't smudge though, but I had them back on and my feet safely covered up by the time Lori came downstairs. Marie didn't say anything about it, just cleaned up the mess in the living room and then went in the kitchen to help Lori with lunch. I flipped the TV back on and watched some more hockey, hoping to salvage a few shreds of my manly dignity.

Marie and Lori called us all in for lunch after about half an hour, and the brats filed in one by one behind me, the oldest one leading in his still half asleep siblings. Marie had already fixed me a plate again, left over spaghetti, but this time with fresh baked garlic bread. Lori tried to make small talk again, and I answered her questions about her car in pretty much the same manner as I had at breakfast. Marie carried most of the conversations between her, Lori, and the brats, leaving me to eat my lunch in relative peace.

Lori tried to invite us to stay the night again, but I didn't like the way she was looking at me when she said it, like she was starting to change her mind about me. Marie politely declined for us though, which was good because I'm not sure I could have said figured out a way to say no so nicely. I did offer to shovel her driveway, but that was mostly just because I'd have to shovel it anyway to get my own truck out. She made polite thank you noises, and I got out of there before things got any more awkward.

I grabbed a shovel out of the garage, put my jacket back on, and went outside while Marie helped clean up the kitchen. It was damn cold outside, but a dry sort of cold. I liked that kind of cold, crisp and sharp. Wet cold, the kind that left slush everywhere...that I hated. But the physical exertion of shoveling the snow kept me warm, and my body was good at handling the cold anyway. I dug a path out to the road, clearing out a space around my truck and the garage, then set the shovel back up in the garage next to her car.

"Ready to go, sugar?" I called, stepping inside.

"Yeah. Thanks again for letting us stay." Marie said, trying to carry both her backpack and my duffel bag.

I took both bags from her and tugged her outside by her arm. She'd changed back into winter-appropriate clothing, and she'd gotten plenty of time to have already said her goodbyes.

"Thank you for helping so much for the kids. And thanks for fixing my car again, Logan. It was nice to see you again!" Lori called after us as I ushered Marie to the truck.

"Bye Ro!" The little girl shouted.

That set off an entirely new round of goodbyes as the other two boys joined in, then Lori, and of course Marie had to yell back goodbye to each one of them, and GODDAMN. I finally got Marie into the truck, but then Lori had to call out a goodbye to me personally. I relented and nodded back at her before I got in the cab and slammed the door. I tossed our bags in the back and looked over at Marie.

She was gripping the door handle. "Drive."

I raised an eyebrow at her, and she blushed slightly and cracked a sheepish smile. I put the truck in gear and pulled out of the driveway.

"They were nice an' all, it was jus' a lot, yah know?" She asked, breathing a sigh of relief as we got back onto the road.

I grinned when she pulled her gloves off and placed her hand on top of mine. "Yeah. Ya like it when it's jest us?"

She smiled back at me and drawled, "Jus' yah an' meh, sugah."

_Damn straight._

**A/N: I'm up slightly earlier for this one, but it's really difficult to post chapters early in the morning when I don't have work. Sorry 'bout-cha, but I'm not waking up two hours early for this. I've had a hard weekend at work, and I'm about to go back, so I need all the sleep I can get.**

**A few weeks back, I promised you lovely readers I had several scenes coming up, like Logan taking Marie to a bookstore, Marie being involved in a bar fight, and Marie painting Logan's toenails pink. Well, here's the toenails part! The bar fight actually won't be for a long while yet, since I finally got all of the "moments/scenes/whatever" in order. The next chapter will be a Christmas in July Special, where Marie and Logan celebrate their first Christmas together! And the chapter after that is where the Wolverine finally breaks free of Logan's control and comes out to play...**

**Also, I spent five minutes crafting that beautiful insult, you know the one. So please let me know you appreciated my effort, laughed at it, and/or were highly offended.**


	16. Christmas Cheer

I still drank Molson's and malt liquor, but I didn't chug it back the way I used to. It took a lot of even the hardest liquor to overwhelm my healing factor and get me drunk, which I had always considered one of the biggest downsides to having one. I didn't really feel the need to try to get drunk anymore, not since I picked up my Marie. At least, not the sort of blackout drunk that I usually craved. A strong buzz though, I didn't mind that. What I did mind were all the goddamn bar flies.

"C'mon cowboy...I promise I'll show you a real good ride." A brunette promised.

I glanced her over. She had a real nice rack and probably would make good on that promise. But it had already gotten late, and I still had blood smeared in my hair and across my knuckles from the last fight. She wouldn't mind, didn't even care if the blood belonged to me or him. Marie would care. She'd make me take a shower, probably even hop in with me to scrub the blood out, then crawl into bed with me. She never got too close and made me feel smothered, but she never pushed me away when I had a nightmare and pulled her close either.

I slammed my glass back down. Thoughts like those were the reason why I had started leaving the bars earlier...alone. Because I knew she was waiting for me. Maybe she didn't stay up every time, but even when she fell asleep, I knew she still missed me. Her breathing would be shallow and her eyes would move beneath her closed lids. Sometimes I even caught her having one of her own nightmares. She only breathed deep and steady when I slept in the bed with her, and damn if that didn't make me feel more like a man than taking home some easy fight groupie. The brunette must have took my silence as some sort of acceptance, because she moved closer and raked her nails down my arm.

_Our Marie-mate doesn't touch us like that. She touches us...soft...innocent...unmarked by anyone else._

"Don't disappoint me now, Wolvie. Where's your Christmas spirit?" She purred.

I knocked her arm away as I stood. She stumbled back but caught her balance and immediately pressed up close against me. I lifted her chin with the back of my finger, and she grinned at me. That smile faded real fucking fast when I slid my finger down and pressed my knuckles against her throat. A few people up here had seen my claws before, and I knew the sort of rumors that went around about me.

"Don't call me that."

_Pathetic whorin' bitch...scared of us...Marie-mate ain't scared of us. Only one allowed t'call us that._

She nodded as much as she could with my fist beneath her chin, her eyes wide and missing the sultry leer she'd been giving me moments before. I lowered my hand and brushed past her. People cleared out of my way as I walked to the door. I was halfway there before the rest of what she'd said registered. She nearly choked on the drink she'd been guzzling to steady her nerves when I turned around and marched back over to her. I could smell her fear over the usual stench of the bar, but she posed against the bar to show off her hips and gave me a shaky smile. I could still have her if I wanted her. She'd be afraid now, but she'd still fuck me.

I wanted to smack her.

"The fuck were you saying about Christmas?" I demanded.

She gulped, the smile still plastered on her too red lips. "I just thought we could have some Christmas cheer, you know? I could sit on your lap...because I've gotta tell you...I've been a naughty girl this year."

I kept my hands at my sides and tried to keep the disgusted sneer off my face.

"Is it Christmas now?" I asked.

"Uhh...no." The smile finally slipped for a moment, then came right back. "Not for another two days, but I coul—"

I walked away without waiting to hear the rest. Two days. Shit, I only had two days until Christmas. Was it always this time of year, or was it one of those holidays that moved around and only happened on a certain day of a special week or something? And wasn't this the one about all that Jesus stuff or was that the spring thing with the rabbit eggs?

I knew there were presents involved though, and that I only had two goddamn days to figure out what to get Marie. I'd already bought her nice clothes and books and art stuff, and it was worth it to see her smile, but now I'd sort of run out of things to get her. I guess women like expensive sparkly shit, but my sweet little Marie had never shown any interest in that, and putting stuff like that on her would only make her a target for thieves and cons. She already had my tags anyway. I slammed the truck door and hit the steering wheel.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. The presents were supposed to be a surprise, right? Dammit, I wanted to just ask her what she fucking wanted. But...the thought of my Marie...looking at me in surprise and happiness...her mouth open in that little O that it did whenever she discovered something new...

Fuck, fuck, fuck. So now it had to be a surprise, no asking her what she wanted. She deserved to have something really special, but I couldn't think of anything. I yanked the glove box open, grabbed a cigar, and got back out of the truck. I still kept a pack of emergency smokes, but I didn't ever do it around Marie. Not after seeing a commercial that said secondhand smoke can kill too. Just me, myself, and the Wolverine now though, so I lit up and took a deep drag, leaning against my truck while I smoked.

Fuck, fuck, fuck. I didn't ask for this. I might be damn grateful for Marie, but I never asked for all of this mate shit either. I was a killer and an animal. I ate with my hands and fucked with my boots on. What the fuck was I trying to do taking care of a little kid? I never asked for that sort of responsibility, and even though I'd do anything for Marie, most of the time I just simply didn't know what the fuck I was doing.

Alright, smoke's done, pity party's over. I wasn't going to stand out here forever, feeling sorry for myself. I needed to calm down and assess the situation. Marie needed presents. What could I get her that would make her life better right now? I leaned my head back against the truck, just watching the snow fall for several minutes while I thought about it. I huddled deeper in my jacket, and a thought actually occurred to me. I could get Marie a new jacket, probably some new gloves too. The ones she had now were starting to look pretty worn.

It wasn't anything special, but it was a start. I flicked the cigar butt on the ground and got back in the truck. Marie would be waiting for me. I couldn't ask her what presents she wanted, but maybe I'd ask if she wanted to do something. People were always doing shit for Christmas. We could stay in this town until the end of the week so she wouldn't have to worry about moving around.

I might be winging it, but I'd figure something out for my Marie.

* * *

I opened the door, already shrugging out of my jacket. Both beds were still made, and Marie wasn't in the room. I cocked my head to the side and listened for any sounds coming from the bathroom, but there was no water running, no movement, no heartbeat. It took less than three seconds for me to get across the motel room and kick down the bathroom door, but Marie wasn't in there either.

She was gone.

_Her scent! Track her scent and find her, find her NOW!_

I loped out of the room, back into the parking lot and sniffed the air. Sweat, diesel, food, alleyway sex...green apple shampoo and sunshine. Marie. Older trail from this afternoon when we got here, fresher trail leading away from the door. Several minutes old, maybe fifteen. Through the parking lot, across the street. Snowfall didn't matter. I could track even in a blizzard, and this was my goddamn mate. I could track her anywhere. Into a Dollarama. More artificial smells, more people in a closed off area. I could still smell her though, down the aisles, getting stronger, round the corner...

Marie.

_Mate!_

She stood in front of one of the shelves, holding a hand basket, but I didn't care what she was shopping for. I'd found her, and I wouldn't let her get away again. She gasped when I grabbed her around the waist, but then the next second she started struggling. She did good too, throwing her head back and almost catching my nose while stomping on my instep at the same time. My reflexes and boots saved me from any real damage, but my mind was still pretty messed up.

_Mate ran from us...resisting...doesn't want us anymore...make her submit...make her want us again!_

I turned her around and shoved her against the shelf, trapping her with my body. She gasped again, and I tugged her shoulder down to bury my face in her neck. Her sweater and old jacket were in the way, blocking her skin from me. I lifted my head slightly and nuzzled higher up against her neck, her hair acting as a barrier until it clicked in my mind that I should be careful of touching her skin. She might get another shot of me, and she did _not_ need to feel what I was thinking right now, with the Wolverine howling in my mind for me to mark her, claim her, fuck her up against the shelf right here in the Dollarama and never, ever let her out of our sight again.

"It's okay. Ah'm here. Ah'm sorry Ah scared yah." She whispered, wrapping her arms around me and carefully nuzzling back.

The shock of what she said acted like a bucket of cold water, and I managed to calm down enough to realized that I'd practically attacked her in the store. She'd only fought back against me because I'd scared her, grabbing her from behind like that. I could have been anyone, and later I'd be damn proud of my girl for fighting back smart the way she had, but right now I was just relieved that I'd found her. Relieved and suddenly exhausted. I pulled back and tried to give her some space, hoping I hadn't hurt her when I'd shoved her against the shelf.

"Didn't know where ya were." I muttered, woozy from the sudden emotional trauma.

"Ah'm so sorry. Ah jus' didn't think yah'd be back until later, an' Ah only needed a few things from across the street. But Ah'm here now, an' Ah'm alrahght." She soothed, still pressing close to me.

I just nodded. "Don't...don't ever..."

_Leave us. Don't leave Marie, please don't leave..._

Shit. I needed to sit down. I needed a drink. I needed her wrapped around me, promising she was alright and would never do that again. I had been so focused on finding her, that I hadn't actually stopped to think of the possibilities. Now that I had her, the possibilities were all I could think about. Kidnappers and rapists and scientists, her body on the floor, no body at all, just blood splatters and tire tracks.

"Sorry, so sorry." She mumbled against my chest. "Ah jus' got bored an' thought Ah...no, Ah didn't think, Ah should have left a note, Ah'm sorry."

I snapped back out of it when I smelled her tears, felt them soaking into my shirt. She wasn't supposed to cry, I didn't want that to happen, I just wanted her safe with me.

"S'okay, kid."

She still sniffled, so I dropped to my knees and hugged her again, letting her rest her head on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry if I scared ya, grabbing ya like that. Ya were jest gone, and I...I panicked." I admitted.

She sniffed again and nodded. I hugged her tight for a while longer, and she didn't protest. Finally I pulled back again, cupping her cheek through her hair. She'd only cried a little bit, and her face was already clearing up, but she still had tear tracks down her cheeks.

"Ya alright now though." I said.

She nodded like it had been a question. "Yeah. Ah'm okay."

I lifted my thumb, only waiting for a second for her permission before I brushed her tears away. She leaned into my hand and looked up at me, giving me a shy, shaky smile. I felt my chest tighten again, but not from fear this time. Was it even possible for me to have a heart attack? Because I swore I was recovering from a stroke. I stood back up, still keeping her close. She looked around like she needed something.

"Here you go, miss."

I actually looked around the store for the first time. An older lady, probably sixty or so, offered Marie the basket she'd dropped. A mother ushered her kid away, still looking at the two of us suspiciously. I realized how bad it had probably looked when I grabbed her. Shit, I hoped nobody called the cops.

"Thank yah." Marie replied, taking it from her.

The lady looked at me. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to intrude. I just remember my kids. My youngest had a way of disappearing too. Scared the bejeesus out of me."

"...yeah." I muttered. "Uh, thanks."

"Happy holidays!" Marie said.

The lady smiled back at her. "You too. Be safe now."

Marie nodded and kept smiling until the lady left. I just sort of stood there and tried not to feel like a creepy pervert. I fucking hated it when people mistook Marie for my daughter. Marie leaned against me and wrapped her fingers in mine, tugging on my hand slightly to get my attention.

"So...are we gonna leave now?" She asked, biting her lip.

I looked down at her. "You got all of your stuff?"

"No, Ah...uhm..." She glanced down again.

"Kid...Marie." I waited for her to look at me. "I ain't mad at you, alright?"

She relaxed and nodded, squeezing my hand. I looked at what she had in her basket. Tinsel, marti gras beads, and some green stuff.

"The fuck you doing with marti gras beads?" I asked.

"Ah wanted to decorate...for Christmas. It was gonna be a surprise." She mumbled, then cocked her head to the side, sudden understanding dawning. "Oh...oh! No, not like _that_ kind of marti gras. Ah jus' thought they looked pretty."

I exhaled slowly, forcing myself to relax. "Okay."

"...okay?"

"Yeah. You can decorate if you want, and we can stay here for the rest of the week. I was just gonna ask you if you wanted to do something for Christmas." I said.

"Really, you don't mind?" She asked, eyes wide.

"Nah. You deserve to have a Christmas."

She hugged me again, mumbling thank yous into my shirt. I allowed myself to smile a bit, and the Wolverine let out a relieved whimper in my mind. I wanted to take her back to the hotel, strip her down, and rub myself all over her. Not sex, exactly. Just putting my scent on her and hers on me, knowing that she wasn't hurt, and holding her near. The naked part would just be bonus. I settled for stroking her hair and letting her hug me.

"Alright, get your shit." I finally said.

She stepped back and laughed, the sound doing a lot of good for my shot nerves. I followed her around the store while she picked out random sparkly things and even a little foot tall tree. Next year, I'd go out and chop down a tree for her myself and let her decorate that. She didn't seem to mind that the decorations came from Dollarama though, and now that my blood had stopped pounding, our little conversation had actually given me an idea or two about what to get her. They definitely wouldn't be coming from some cheap dollar store either.

* * *

The next day, I dropped her off at the Dollarama again so she could go shopping for me. She had somehow known that I wouldn't have been able to let her out of my sight the night before, but I'd calmed down since then, so I let her go in by herself. I waited outside in the truck while she did her shopping, thinking about how I would make her special gift work. I knew what I wanted to get her, I just wasn't sure how to go about arranging for it to actually happen. She came back out after only twenty minutes or so, and I dropped her back off at the hotel to decorate and wrap up my presents while I went out to do my own errands.

I went to a gas station first and bought two disposable, pay-as-you-go cellphones. The next time Marie wanted to go somewhere or needed me or anything at all, I wanted her to be able to get in touch with me. I'd never really used a cellphone before, but I trusted that she'd know how. It seemed like even toddlers had cellphones now.

The next place I went to was a secondhand computer store. I didn't know jack shit about computers, but I could smell a lie, and I knew bullshit when I heard it. A few growls and threats later, and I got what had damn well better be a good laptop for a good price. A quick trip to a biker shop later, and I got a green jacket that I thought would go good with her hair and a new pair of black leather gloves.

The last place I visited was the public library. I gave the librarian lady some bullshit story about needed to set up some computer stuff for my...kid...before I gave her the laptop for Christmas. I fucking hated computers, but she was pretty good at it, and she helped me fill out all of the registration forms in less than an hour. Everything was submitted online, with no actual paperwork or identification required. I'd have Marie finish up the registration process and pick out what she wanted when I gave her the laptop. It would all be expensive as fuck, but it would be worth it for her, and I had the money to spare anyway.

The day after that, Christmas Eve, we just stayed in at the motel and watched Christmas specials on TV. Marie really liked the movies, and I really liked having Marie snuggled up next to me. We didn't get out of bed all day. Marie had decorated the hotel in all things Christmas, with the little tree set up on the dresser. Our presents were carefully lined up on the dresser next to it, mine wrapped in actual wrapping paper and hers covered in newspaper. They didn't look pretty, but they were covered, and that was the best I could do. The only time I did get up was to go to the bathroom, and on the way out, Marie caught me.

"Logan, wait!" She grabbed my arm, pulling me back into the bathroom doorway.

"Yeah, kid?"

She pointed up. "Mistletoe."

Some sort of green plant thing hung above us. She looked up at me, smelling excited and nervous, like something was supposed to happen.

"So?"

Her excited smile dimmed. "Well...now yah have to kiss meh."

"What?"

"Oh, yah don't...when two people get caught under mistletoe together, they have to kiss. It's a Christmas thing." She explained.

Wait, I got to kiss her now? She was asking me to kiss her, no harm no foul no statutory rape?

_Fuck yeah! Don't jest stand there with yer thumb up yer ass, bub!_

But she grabbed me first, tugging on my shoulders until I leaned down to her level. She moved closer, her hair brushing across my face as she turned her head to the side. I didn't know what she was doing until I felt her brush her lips across my cheek. I finally got with the program and slid my hands over her shoulders, smoothing my thumbs across her jaw and tugging her head back up. I wanted to taste her so goddamn badly, but at the last moment I forced myself to kiss her forehead instead. She smiled at me so sweetly when I pulled back that I knew it had been the right decision, no matter how much the Wolverine disagreed.

"That what you wanted?" I asked.

She blushed and nodded, looking so fucking cute. I ran one hand up into her hair, then down to her back and gently pushed her toward the bathroom.

"Get washed up, kid. Next movie'll be on soon." I said.

She nodded again and dashed into the bathroom. I shut the door behind her, then reached up and took down the mistletoe. I managed to stay strong that time, but I damn sure wasn't get caught under that jailbait trap a second time. I tossed it over by the plastic tree and got in bed while I waited for Marie to finish up. It only took her a few minutes before she came out and crawled in with me. We watched three more movies, and I thought Marie would never go to sleep, but she finally started yawning at the end of the third. I got her to lay down, and she fell asleep sometime around two in the morning. I hoped it meant she wouldn't be up early and would let me sleep in.

* * *

I was wrong. I was so very wrong. She got up at eight, after only six hours of sleep. I refused to get out of bed and made her bring all the presents over to me. I kept my face buried in my pillow while she arranged all of the presents around us. She sat cross-legged next to my head and pulled up her backpack.

"Ah didn't want to wrap this one, because it would be too obvious what it was." She said.

I nodded and tried to lift my head, I really did, but it was just too damn early. Marie grabbed my pillow and pulled it away, despite my protesting growls. I opened my eyes and started to sit up, but then she slid a new pillow beneath me. I laid right back down, burying my face in the new pillow. It was so much softer than the motel pillow, and it smelled like Marie. I couldn't resist rubbing my face against it, and my growls turned low and approving.

Marie laughed. "So yah like it?"

I grunted.

"Then come on, sleepyhead. Ah got more." She teased.

I raised my head and blinked again. She ran her hand through my hair and tried to help pull me up. She probably couldn't even lift my arm by herself. Metal bones were heavy. I leaned against the headboard and pulled her half onto my lap, nuzzling into her hair.

"Ah'm sorry Ah woke yah up so early. Ah jus' couldn't wait." She said.

"It's alright. What's next?" I asked.

She handed me another present, this one wrapped. It felt like fabric underneath, and when I ripped the wrapping paper off, I found my own pair of gloves. We had both gotten each other gloves.

"So yah won't have to worry about touching me." She said.

I lifted her chin up. "The only reason I ever worry about touching you is because I don't want to mess up your head."

She gave me a tight smile. "Sugah, the crazy ship has already sailed."

"You're not crazy. You just don't need any more of me messing around in your head." I said.

She took my hand in hers. "Keep yeh hands warm though."

"Yeah." I hugged her quickly. "Thanks."

Marie smiled and gave me my next present. She hadn't let me touch my presents at all beforehand, convinced that I would be able to guess what they were with my heightened senses. This one felt hard, and I could smell metal. I wasn't halfway through unwrapping it before I recognized the shape and realized what it was. A bottle opener. I only drank my Molson's from the bottle because the can gave it a funny taste.

"Ah know yah can jus' use yah claws, but it hurts, so Ah got yah a bottle opener." She said, watching me closely for my reaction.

I didn't know what to fucking say to that. I thought she'd forgotten all about the time I told her it hurt when the claws came out, it had been so long ago, the night I'd first picked her up. No one had ever cared enough to even ask that question, much less care about the answer. I'd never gotten a present before either, and hers were just so fucking...they were..._caring_.

"Thanks...it's...thanks." I mumbled, pulling her closer.

She grinned, happy just because I was happy. Fuck, I was fucking happy, and my throat had suddenly gotten tight. She let me hold her for a minute while I got my shit together.

"I've never gotten a present before." I finally admitted.

She looked up in surprise. "What?"

I shrugged. "Never had a family before."

"But...what about friends or...girls...?" She asked, blushing at the end.

"I'm not exactly a people person. And I'm sure as hell not the type of guy you invite home for the holidays." I said.

"Ah'd invite yah."

I snorted. "Your parents wouldn't let me past the front door."

This time she shrugged. "It's okay. Ah wasn't good enough for them either. But that's their loss, and yah still have another present."

My sweet little Marie amazed me sometimes, a lot of the time actually. She was shy and insecure, but she fought like a hellcat and didn't take shit from anyone. She gave me my last present, a rectangle thing a little bigger than the cellphone I'd got her. I opened it up to find the small sketchbook I'd bought her a while back. I'd wondered why she wanted one so small, and I flipped it open to see what was inside.

A forest, the trees and ground blanketed by undisturbed snow. A frozen lake next to a forest, with a cabin in the background. The night sky, with a strip of road disappearing into the horizon. A wolf tracking through the forest.

More pictures of landscapes, sunsets, and the occasional wolf, all done in watercolor. But it was the last two at the very end that made it hard to breathe. A girl with auburn hair and a wolf curled around her, sleeping peacefully together. And then a self portrait, just her, my Marie looking back at me. She wasn't smiling, not frowning, just looking. Maybe she'd done it by looking in a mirror, because it really did seem like she was looking out at something beyond the page, studying what was in front of her.

Marie sat curled up next to me, leaning against my arm to peer over at the sketchbook she'd given me. She stayed silent, letting me process everything. When she started to fidget though, I knew I had to say something.

"It's beautiful."

It was so much more than that, but that was the only thing I could think of. She blushed and smiled wider than I'd ever seen her smile. She snuggled back up to me, and we just stared at the portrait for another minute or so.

"Ah wanted to give yah something so yah could always remember." She whispered.

I took a deep breath. I wasn't used to dealing with emotions like this. The only thing I'd ever felt something so strongly was rage, and this felt even stronger than that. I'd overcome the rage, found ways to control it, but I was drowning in this, and I didn't even want to stop it.

"Thank you." I whispered back.

We held each other for several more minutes before I felt stable enough to carefully set the book down on the nightstand. It was small enough that I could put it in my jacket pocket, probably even my jeans pocket. I could keep it with me wherever I went. Marie had my tags, and I had her sketchbook. Something to remember each other by.

"You want your presents now, kid?" I asked.

She nodded so eagerly she almost bounced up and down with the force of it. I grinned and gave her the first bundle. I'd just wrapped the gloves up with the jacket, so she got both of them at once when she tore the newspaper off. She spent nearly a full minute just touching the gloves, then jumped up and put the jacket on. It fit her much better than the other one, and it was insulated on the inside but still lightweight. And the faded green color made her hair look almost red.

"Looks nice, kid." I said.

She laughed and threw herself back on the bed to hug me again. "Thank yah, thank yah, thank yah!"

I smirked. If this was how she reacted over the damn gloves and jacket, she was going to lose her shit when I gave her the rest of her gifts. I decided to let her have the cellphones next and save the laptop for last. She tore open the box holding the cellphones, then looked up at me with the exact O look of happy shock I had pictured.

"Yah...wha...why are there two?" She finally stuttered out.

I gave her a sheepish grin. "I was kinda hoping you'd show me how to use mine."

"Oh...oh. Yeah. Ah can...Ah'll program our numbers in and put them on speed dial so yah can just press a button to call meh." She said.

I nodded. "Sounds good. You ready for your next one?"

She looked up in shock again, like she couldn't believe there was still more. That giving and receiving saying actually turned out to be right, because giving her the laptop and watching her peel back the newspaper and realize what it was felt better than damn near anything I could think of. But then she started shaking her head, and I felt like I'd just been sucker punched.

"Marie? Shit, what's wrong kid? You don't like it?" I asked, feeling my stomach drop.

She shook her head even harder, and I saw she'd started to cry.

_Nice job, fucktard._ _You made our mate fuckin' cry on Christmas._

"It's alright, I can take it back, I can getcha a new one, please don't cry, shit Marie, please don't..."

She waved her hand and swiped her tears away. "Ah'm sorry, it's not...it's not yah fault, it's jus'..."

"Just what, kid? What's wrong?" I pulled her back into my lap.

"It's too much." She whispered through her tears.

"What?"

"It's too...yeh too good...Ah don't deserve..."

"Hold the fuck up." I lifted her head up and forced her to look at me. "I don't ever want to hear you say you don't deserve good things, Marie. You deserve the best, better than a Christmas with five presents in a motel. You're beautiful and smart and caring and you deserve to be happy."

She gasped and started crying harder. I didn't know if I had fixed things or made them a thousand times worse, so I just pressed her back to my chest and held her while she sobbed. When she finally finished, she laid against me and just breathed for a while.

"Five?"

"Five what, kid?"

She sat up. "Yah said five presents."

"Uhh...yeah. If yah like the laptop, there's another." I said.

"Yeh killing me, Logan."

I swallowed and looked her over closely, but she sniffled back her tears and smiled. Her scent wasn't so wild with emotion anymore, and she let me wipe away her tears again. I hated it when she cried, but she was a fourteen year old girl, so I guessed I'd have to learn how to deal with it. I handed her the laptop and let her shift around until she was comfortable sitting next to me with the computer in her lap.

"Make it turn on." I told her.

She laughed, her tears nearly gone now.

"What?"

"Yeh so hopeless." She said, still giggling.

I rolled my eyes, and she turned it on, still giggling every now and then. When the log in screen came up, she craned her head back to look at me questioningly.

"What's the password?"

"Four. Oh. Two. Four. Three." I answered. "If you forget, it's the same number on my tags."

She looked down at them. "Oh."

The computer did its thing, and the screen came back on to show the website I'd been on. I'd just turned it off after I'd seen what I needed to, so everything was still up. Marie looked at the home of the website, then looked back up at me.

"What's this?" She asked.

"Virtual High School. This is the Ontario version, but I'm pretty sure you can keep up with it even if we leave the province. I registered you for it, and you can choose what courses you want to take." I said.

She turned back to the screen. "These are the courses...?"

"Yeah. There's courses for math, science, English, some other shit. You can do the assignments whenever you want, then take the final exam to pass the course. Like high school, but with this computer shit instead." I explained.

"But..." She looked back up at me. "These are five hundred dollars a course."

"I can afford it."

She stayed silent and just stared at me.

"You don't have to do it if you don't want to." I assured her. "But you said some stuff about college in that one game we played, and you can earn a diploma with this even while we move around."

She took a deep breath. "This is the...nah-cest...best...thing..._anyone_ has evah done for meh."

"It's just—"

"No, Logan. The best. Yah...yah gave meh a future." She said.

So did you.

"Merry Christmas, kid."

* * *

**A/N: Please excuse me while I go sob in a corner for my OTP now. Also, because I didn't get to attend Comic Con.**

**So that was the uber fluffy, Rogan galore Christmas special! I hope you all enjoyed it, and maybe even shed a tear. In other news, I got my very first flame, and the funny part is the same person flamed BOTH of my stories. So they had to read the first chapter of TBH, leave a review telling me what a sick person I am for writing about a fourteen year old, then thought to themselves, hmm you know what I'm going to read next? Yeah, I think I'll just pop over and read her other story, and see if that's any better! Then they flamed me for BBW too, also because Marie is fourteen, as if her age was going to change.**

**Or they could have just kept reading and realized that nothing physical actually happens between her and Logan specifically BECAUSE she's fourteen. But I guess they preferred to just be a dick about it. Whatever, I'm not mad, and everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but you're wrong and I hate you.**

**On a happier note, I really want to do a bloopers scene where, Marie opens the laptop and asks "What's this?" and it's BUSTY ASIAN BEAUTIES and Logan is just like, "Shit, why is that still there?!" and eventually just panics and smashes the whole damn thing.**

**Next up is the Wolverine! Whoo! He breaks free from Logan's control and officially meets Marie for the first time. But then he has to decide what to do with his underaged mate...**


	17. Intro Wolvie

The first punch hit the side of my jaw, and I spat blood on the floor. The second and third hit my ribs until I knocked my opponent back. I could've kept going and ended the fight right then, hell I could've ended it before he ever threw that first punch, but I needed to give the crowd a little something to keep them on edge. Nobody would bet if I just KO'd everyone who stepped into the cage.

But I figured that was enough of that. The guy threw another punch, and I caught it, gripped his wrist, and threw him across the cage. Blood pounded in my ears and my instincts screamed to follow through, kick him while he's down, rip his throat out, but I pushed them aside and let him stumble back to his feet.

Then I punched him back down again.

We repeated that little dance two more times until he wizened up and stayed down. What passed for a ref in this shit hole bar counted to three, then declared me the winner. He knew better than to get in the cage and try to lift my arm or some bullshit like that though. He just unlocked the padlock and opened the door for me, and the crowd cleared a space as I walked out.

I headed for the bar and downed the Molson's that waited for me. I was on my second one when my pocket buzzed. I dug my phone out and flipped it open to see a text from Marie. She'd gotten back to the hotel room from the convenience store with the candy bar she claimed to need. That girl and her damn period would be the death of me. I don't know what I expected, but it never really hit me that we'd be going through that shit _every single month_ until it kept fucking happening.

I flipped the phone shut and shoved it back in my pocket. I knew how to text Marie back—sort of—but I hated trying to punch the tiny fucking buttons and the damn phone always changed what I was trying to say. A text was just a status update. If she really wanted to talk to me, she'd call.

"You ever gonna bring her around?" Hal asked, still pretending to clean a dirty glass with an even dirtier rag.

I chugged my second bottle and slammed it back down. "Fuck are you talking about, bub?"

"Your girl." Hal nodded in the general direction of my waist. "Never seen you with a phone before. Used to hate the damn things, now you got somebody you want to talk to all of a sudden? At just the same time you quit fucking any woman with a pulse? Boy, you got it, and it looks like you got it bad."

"Yeah, and I got six damn good reasons fer ya t'mind yer own fuckin' business." I growled.

Hal glanced at my hands and then raised his own in surrender. "F'you say so, Logan."

I grunted, and he placed another bottle in front of me. About time I get back though. Marie didn't usually stay up this late, not unless she was on her goddamn period. She had trouble sleeping without me every other time, but it got really bad this time of the month. I finished off the third bottle and stood, shrugging back into my jacket. Hal set a stack of bills on the bar between us. I grabbed them and shoved the wad into my jacket pocket without bothering to count it. Hal knew what would happen if he crossed me.

People moved out of my way again as I left, ignoring a couple of calls from some barflies hoping to get lucky. My pants buzzed, and I checked my phone. Marie suggesting we could watch some late night movie about parks and dinosaurs if I got back soon. I had just punched one to call her and let her know I was on my way when something metal hit me in the back of my head.

I stumbled against my truck and braced myself for more, but none came and I could vaguely hear shouts of disbelief through the ringing in my ears. I shoved my phone into my other jacket pocket and prepared to give some assholes the standard beating, but then I noticed the key marks scratched into the side of my truck. I heard a whistling noise near my right ear and turned in time to catch the crowbar before it connected again. The asshole holding it gaped stupidly at me until I slammed the crowbar and my fist into his face. He crumpled, leaving me with the crowbar. I dropped it in front of me and let it rattle on the asphalt.

Assholes two and three decided to rush me next, and I dropped the one on the left with a right hook. The one on the right tackled me and managed to push me back all of two inches. He had probably dented his head on my metal ribs already, but I slammed my elbow between his shoulder blades anyway. He hit the ground too.

With all three assholes on the ground, I would normally be leaving. But that was the standard beating, and these fucktards had earned themselves some extra credit by fucking with my truck. I yanked up the nearest asshole and headbutted him, breaking his nose. I kept him standing with my grip on his shirt and laid into his ribs with my other fist. Satisfied that he had at least one broken rib, I dropped him back to the ground and picked up the next asshole. He wobbled on his feet but managed to stand on his own, so I kicked his kneecap in. He screamed and collapsed back on the ground, and I stomped on his hand and broke a few fingers too for good measure. I turned to work on the third asshole next and was met with a knife in my stomach. I looked down and so did he. I glanced up, and he took a shaky step back.

"Gotta do better than that, bub." I snarled, yanking the knife out and tossing it next to the crowbar.

Asshole number three turned to run. I stepped forward and grabbed him by the back of the neck. I was tempted to just snap it, but a straight up murder might get the police involved, and I couldn't afford to have the cops on my ass right now. Not with Marie waiting for me. So I spun him around and smashed his face into the side of my truck a couple of times instead. They'd already laid into it with the crowbar, and at this point, a few more dents wouldn't matter. I threw him back to the ground and leaned against the truck while I waited for the stab wound to stop bleeding.

I itched to smoke a cigar, but I didn't want to smell like smoke when I got back to Marie. I closed my eyes and thought about her instead, curled up in bed, waiting for me. I must not have been bleeding that badly, because my body managed to divert enough blood flow to my cock to get an erection. It had been a while since the last time that I fucked something, but I was sick of looking for Marie replacements. They weren't her, and lately it had started to piss me off to the point that I got a little rougher with them than even I was comfortable with.

My stomach finally stopped bleeding though, so I ignored my dick the best I could and climbed into my truck. We'd leave whenever we woke up tomorrow afternoon, and I'd get the truck into an autobody shop at the next town over. Parking lot brawls tended to be overlooked in this part of town, but there was no reason to stick around and ask for trouble. I'd stopped doing dumb shit like that ever since I got my Marie.

Shit, maybe Hal was right.

I tried to calm down on my way back, but my blood was still pounding when I got out of the truck. I thought about just staying outside for a minute, but the thought of Marie on the other side of the door was too much to resist. When I opened the door and walked in, I saw Marie asleep in the bed, curled around the pillow she'd given me. My head spun at the sight of her, and I leaned back against the door. I could hear the Wolverine howling in my head to be let out. Coming inside had been a bad idea, but before I could force myself back out, Marie woke up.

"Sugah?" She asked, sitting up.

She might have said something else, but all I could focus on was that she had on my shirt, with my tags hanging underneath. She was wearing my shirt, my scent on her, marking her as _mine_. Something inside my head snapped at the sight of her sitting in our bed, wearing my shirt like that, and the Wolverine took advantage of my momentary weakness to break free.

* * *

_I wasn't used to controlling this body outside of bloodshed, and I took a moment to take in my surroundings. The room I stood in smelled like myself and my mate. The scents were old enough that we must have been here for several days, and I could smell that my mate had entered her cycle. My memories of what happened under the human's control were hazy, but I damn well understood that he'd found our mate, and yet he'd failed to claim her. She called out again, the human's name, and my eyes snapped over to her. She looked surprised and sat up straighter._

"Wolvie?"

_My mate recognized me, and I gave a low growl of approval, stalking over to the bed. She moved over to make room for me and bared her neck submissively when I crouched over her. I growled again and licked her neck, nudging at the silver chain wrapped around it. She stayed still, and I took it a step farther, sinking my teeth into her pale skin. I bit just hard enough to draw blood, until she started to whimper. She didn't panic or try to pull away though, and I soothed the bite with my tongue. She sighed and relaxed against me again._

_My sweet little Marie-mate had behaved well, and I would reward her for that later. For now though, I wanted to inspect my mate properly, without the human's interference. I started with her hair, grabbing a curl and sniffing it. Apples and sunshine. I remembered something else smelled like her...the human's pillow. She must scent mark it regularly while we were gone in order for it to keep her scent. It had been one of several gifts given to us when the human had finally got around to proving his worth as a mate and presenting her with proof of how well we could provide for her. She had presented us with similar gifts that had proven how well she would care for us._

_I dropped the strand of hair and moved on to her shoulders, placing my hands on top of them. She submitted to my firm grip, and I dragged one hand down while using the other to keep her steady. Her breasts were much smaller than I was used to, but they would probably keep growing, and they looked nice and perky. I cupped one and tested the feel, causing her to inhale sharply, and her scent took on a nervous tinge. This was only a quick inspection however, not the claiming that would take place after she fully submitted to me. I smoothed down her side and to her hip next, flexing my grip on the flesh I found there. Not as full as I preferred, but more than the pathetic sticks that passed for women to the humans. Her hips were already wide and pleasing, and more time and good food would fill her out to my standards._

_Her legs were next, and I grasped the inside of her knee to bring her leg around to the other side of my body. She shifted to accommodate me, and her scent calmed a bit when I leaned back on my haunches so we weren't quite so close. I gripped her ankle next and ran my hand over her foot. I rubbed my thumb into the arch, and she let out a pleased noise. I lifted my eyes back to her and let out a grin before I thought better of it. My smiles were feral and usually frightened humans. My mate just smiled happily back though, her nervousness almost gone. I swept my gaze appreciatively along her body, which she had chosen to cover in my clothing. The collar of my shirt barely clung to her shoulders, showing our tags and the straps of the undergarment she wore beneath, and the hem had been pushed up high enough that I could see glimpses of the insides of her thighs._

_Fuck yes, I approved of her choice. The night had barely even started and my sweet little mate had already done so well. My gaze finally settled on her face, and I leaned forward onto my knees to get a closer look. She lifted her chin, but with no aggression in her eyes or scent. I brushed my knuckles over her jaw and rubbed my thumb over her cheek next. She breathed steadily, her lips slightly parted._

_And she had such fuck me lips. That mouth of hers had driven even the human crazy with want, and I could feel my cock twitch at the sight of them. Full and plump, just the right shade of pink to suggest what her cunt would look like. I'd have a hard time deciding which lips I wanted wrapped around my cock first._

_But I knew I needed to take this more slowly than I wanted so I didn't scare her. I tamped down those urges for the moment, and I pulled back and allowed her to nuzzle against my own neck instead, rather than immediately claiming her. There would be plenty of time for that tonight, and although I fully intended to make her mine if the human wouldn't, I didn't plan on causing her any unnecessary pain. She was still a kitling too, unexperienced in the ways of mating. A kitling had never drawn my attention before, but now that I had found my mate, it was only right that she be unmarked and unclaimed by any other male._

_She raised her head and smiled at me. _"It's nice to finally see yah."

_My mate knew of me and wanted to see me...despite my attempts to control myself, the thought went straight to my cock. The human hardly ever let me out with the women, and he'd done his best to keep me away from our mate—**my **mate too—even locking me up for several months. But I had her now, and she fucking **wanted** to see me._

"S'nice t'see ya too, little kitling." _I growled._

_Her mouth dropped open in shock. I cocked my head to the side and regarded her surprise. My voice had come out rough, in the gruff tone I used with the human. I had never given a damn before, but I wanted my mate to know I wasn't just a stupid animal, so I adjusted my voice and mimicked the human's speech the best I could._

"Did you think I couldn't talk?" _I asked slowly._

_She shook her head. _"Not...uhm, like this. Yah jus' sorta growled at me the last time."

"The human had more control the last time."

**You goddamn bastard!**

_And of course the stupid fucking human popped up, right on cue. I ignored him and focused on my mate though, petting her hair again. I had hazy memories of it from him, but if felt so much softer in my own hands. She tilted her head to allow me better access, but stared at me worriedly._

"Where's Logan now?" _She asked._

**Don't you dare fucking touch her, you—**

_I shoved him back down and smirked at her. _"Having a healthy does of his own goddamn medicine."

_She brushed her fingers along my face, and I allowed the intimate contact only because she was my mate, but just for a second. She hadn't quite earned that privilege yet, so I took her hand and nipped at her wrist. She squeaked, and I shot her another smirk before I licked over the skin I'd scraped. I could feel her pulse beneath my tongue and smell her sweet scent, slightly mixed with my own from sharing a sleeping space and rich with her fertility._

"Are yah two fighting?"

_I raised my head and looked at her again, deciding to tell her the truth. _"Logan doesn't let me out because he's afraid I'll hurt you."

**You ARE going to hurt her, she isn't fucking ready for this!**

**I'd tell ya t'blow me, but that's gonna be _her _job soon enough.**

**Motherfu—**

_She sighed. _"Ah'm sorry. Logan can be kinda stupid like that sometimes."

_Her words silenced my internal argument with the human, and I searched her eyes and scent for any sign of deception._

"You trust me?"

_She grinned at me. _"Of course, Wolvie! Ah trusted yah before Ah trusted Logan."

_I stayed silent, trying to process that. No one trusted me, not even the human I shared a body and mind with. How could my mate trust me before even knowing me? She must have picked up on my confusion, because she continued._

"Ah have yah in mah head."

_I cupped her cheek and tilted her face up to look deeper in her eyes. They were hazel, with hints of green, but no gold at all._ _I half remembered the human having a conversation with her during an eating time about her having my voice in her head, but it was difficult to remember and didn't make much sense. All I knew for sure was that it came from touching her skin when she was frightened. Her fear made her skin deadly, and I would have to be watchful of that when we mated._

"Does my voice...bother you?"

_She almost shook her head hard enough to dislodge my hand, but I kept a firm grip. She blushed and gave me a sheepish look, settling down once again._

"Yah protect meh...from the other voices."

_I frowned and ran my hand back through her hair to cup the back of her head. _"Those other fuckers who touched you...do they hurt you?"

_She nodded, careful not to move too much this time. _

"They say awful things...give meh nightmares...headaches. Yah keep them quiet." _She dropped her gaze. _"Ah thought it would never be quiet again."

_I growled softly again, pleased that I could protect and watch over my mate even in her mind. It sounded like she needed someone to protect her like that too, and it was satisfying to know that only I had been able to give her that protection._

"Ah talk to yah though." _She continued, looking back up at me. _"Ah lock up the other voices in rooms so they can't get out, but yah don't like cages, so Ah made yah a forest, an' yah talk to meh all the time, but yah always say the nicest things."

_I blinked at her in surprise, and she smiled back at me._

"Yah do. Logan feeds meh and buys meh things and makes sure Ah'm safe, but yah take care of meh too. Yah tell meh we're packmates and that Ah'm special and calm meh down when Ah get scared."

_She looked up at me with shy gratitude, her innocent eyes shining. A harsh snarl of want ripped from my throat, and I buried my face in my mate's neck, drinking in her ripe scent and gasp of surprise when I nipped at the mark I had already left._

**Don't do it, don't hurt her, stop stop STOP!**

_The human yelled in my mind, but I blocked him out and lapped at my mate's skin, getting another taste of her. I caught a whiff of her nervousness again, but not yet fear, when I firmly guided her back down onto the bed. I slid an arm beneath the small of her back and pulled her body up to mine. She gasped when our bodies connected and moved one of her little hands in between us to press against my stomach. I growled and tightened my grip at her eager response, but then she pushed more insistently._

**She doesn't fucking want this, goddammit!**

_The human struggled harder against me, and my mate kept pushing. I relented with another snarl and leaned back just enough to glare at her for her disobedience._

"What happened?" _She gasped._

_I didn't understand what the fuck she was talking about. I fucking stopped because she goddamn insisted. But her hand still brushed against my stomach, and she tried to sit up. I glanced down and saw the bloodstain on my shirt, that had left a smeared blood across her hand and shirt. That was what had upset her. I sighed. As much as I appreciated having a caring mate, I wasn't fucking happy about stopping. She needed to know that I was still strong and able to protect her though, so I sat up and pulled her with me, allowing her to examine the bloody tear in my shirt and the undershirt beneath it more closely. She popped her fingers through the twin holes and pressed them against my skin, searching for an injury._

"A fight." _I replied, enjoying the feel of her fingertips running along my bare skin. I'd teach her how to properly touch me before the night was over. _

_She raised her head. _"Did someone stab you?"

"Yes. I healed."

_She threw her arms around my neck and hugged me. _"Ah'm sorry."

"I healed." _I repeated, not understanding why she was so concerned._

"But it hurt though, rah-ght?" _She asked, pulling back slightly to look at me._

_I started to get why the human always whined about us not being good enough for her. She cared about us in a way no one ever had before, and we hadn't even completed mating. She really was just that good of a person, and I'd be damned if I would let her go to anyone else. We may not deserve her, but then again, no one did. At least we would always protect and be faithful to her._

_I ignored her question and lowered my head to brush against hers. She hesitated, then rubbed her cheek along my jawline, accepting yet submissive. I bumped my head against hers in dominant affection. Perhaps the human was partly right, and I should go more slowly than I planned. She was completely inexperienced after all and would need be reassured and guided in order to learn properly._

_Just as I thought that, she started trying to pull my shirt off. Damn, but my little mate was fucking full of surprises. I had to get out of my jacket first, but then I let her pull my shirt off for me. I reached back and quickly ripped off my undershirt, and her eyes lingered on my chest, then drifted down to my stomach. She spread her palm over the general area where the knife went in and pressed slightly. I closed my eyes and decided to enjoy her hand on me for a moment, before I pushed her back down and taught her the proper way to be mated by an Alpha like me._

_And then she hopped out of the bed. My eyes snapped back open and tracked her as she made her way across the room and into the bathroom, still carrying my shirts. What the fuck did she think she was doing now? I stalked after her but paused at the doorway when I saw her put the shirts in the sink and run the water. She looked over her shoulder at me and smiled obliviously._

"If Ah don't get the stain out now, it'll never come out. Oh!" _Her eyes widened along with her smile. _"Would yah like to watch a movie with meh?"

_I swallowed against the rising uneasy feeling and shrugged a shoulder. She waited a moment more, then turned back to the shirt and started scrubbing. She looked so small. The feeling intensified, and I recognized it as the human emotion of guilt._

**Because she's just a kid.**

**Old enough t'have a cub on her hip.**

**That's not what she needs.**

**She's our goddamn mate!**

_Steam drifted up from the sink and caught my eye. The water had to be scalding, but she still scrubbed at one of the shirts. I came up behind her and lifted her hands out of the hot water. They had already turned pink from the heat._

"It's too hot."_ I growled._

_She tried to tug her hands out of my grip. _"It needs to be that hot to get the blood out."

"Your hands are more important than the goddamn shirt."

_She relaxed against me and bit her lip. _"Ah forget that sometimes. Ah...Ah don't really think Ah'm all that important. But yah remind meh that Ah'm important to yah, so Ah have to be careful. If not for meh, than for yah."

_I looked down at her and saw what the human did for the first time. She was our mate, and she always would be, but right now she was also a child. A true kitling. Insecure and unsure of herself. Things weren't like they used to be, when fourteen year old girls were already wed and bred. Being on the road until we picked her up had probably been the only hardship she'd ever endured. And the voices in her head that hurt her so badly came from people who had touched her, scared her, hurt her. I couldn't risk hurting her like that too. As strong as my instinct to mate with her was, my instinct to protect her was even stronger._

_Fuck._

* * *

**Yeah.**

**A/N: So how are you guys liking Wolverine as an actual character now? Not going to lie, his voice was a struggle to write, so let me know what you think. On point, unrealistic, OOC, whatever.**

**Also, you can swing by The Bad Habit to get Marie's POV for this chapter! That's right, BBW and TBH are both updating with the same content on the same day, so you can read them back to back! WHOO! Let me know which one you read first: this one or Marie's story.**

**I posted the sneak peeks for the two chapters I put up today on my tumblr account, and I think I'm going to keep doing that. I'll post more previews for Friday's chapters up there on Wednesday. The url is morganofthefey . tumblr . com.**

**Coming up next: Marie and Wolverine watch Jurassic Park and have a little Q & A session, and the next morning, Logan gets back in the saddle again! And he's not very happy...**


	18. Wolvie: Exit Stage Left

**A/N: Quick notice! I'm adding the month to the start of every chapter so you'll have a better idea of how quickly time is passing...**

* * *

**MARCH**

"Are yah okay?"

_I looked back down at my little Marie-mate. She cautiously raised her hand and brushed her fingers along my jaw. I took her hand in mine and rubbed it against my face, nuzzling into her palm before running it up into my hair. She giggled and caught on, lightly scratching my scalp with her nails. I may not be able to have her the way I wanted, but I would damn well enjoy myself in the meantime._

"So is that a yes to the movie?" _She asked._

_I opened my eyes. _"Thought you'd want Logan back by now."

"It's not that Ah don't want Logan, Ah jus' want to spend time with yah while Ah can." _She said._

_I nuzzled her hand again. I had planned on claiming my mate, satisfying her and proving my strength, but I hadn't expected her to...like...me. I was just here to pleasure and protect her, not "spend time together."_

"Wolverine?"

_My name surprised me. I had always been called **the** Wolverine before, the animal. Third person, not an actual individual. But my mate said my name like I was just as much of a person as "Logan."_

"Are yah sure everything's alrah-ght?" _She asked._

_I pressed my face into her neck. The mark I'd left on her had bruised blue and purple against her skin, but she hadn't complained. I flattened my tongue and pressed it flat against the mark. The skin was tender, but she didn't whimper in pain again. It would heal._

"Did it hurt?"

"Yeah." _She whispered. _"But Ah know yah were jus' marking meh as yours."

_I turned her cheek to look at me again. _"Did I tell you that...in your head?"

"Yes."

"What else?"

_Did she already know we were mates, or had the "me" in her head not told her that? And why had she gotten me instead of the human? He was the one in control._

"Just what Ah said before. Yah remind meh that we're packmates and yah'll never leave meh." _She paused and pursed her lips. _"Ah know Logan doesn't think much of yah, but yah've never hurt meh or said anything mean."

"I've never been mean." _I repeated, snorting in disbelief._

"Well, yah talk a lot of shit about Logan, but Ah'm not counting that." _She replied._

_I let out a surprised chuckle. The human grumbled in the back of my mind, pissed that I got to talk to our mate in her head and he didn't. But from what she had said, my voice hadn't told her anything about us being mates. Maybe he had figured out she wasn't ready to be mated yet either. But I didn't see any problem in letting her know that she fucking belonged to us, even if we were holding back on the fucking part._

**No!**

**Ya know any other words besides that, bub?**

**Yeah, alright. Fine. Tell her she's our property, we'll never let her go, and we're gonna jump her bones in a couple of years. I'm sure that'll go over real fucking well.**

"Is Logan...talking?"

_I focused back on my mate. _"Yeah, kitling. He's talking shit too."

_She frowned. _"What's he saying?"

**Don't tell her, she'll leave, she'll think we're crazy, don't fucking do it!**

"He ain't happy about riding shotgun, but he'll get over it. I'll watch your movie with you, kit." _I said._

_Her face lit up in a smile. _"Okay, just let meh finish washing yeh shirt!"

_I let her go and she practically bounced back over to the sink. I followed behind her and tested the water before I allowed her to put her hands back in it. She scrubbed at the shirt while I leaned against the wall and watched her. She didn't flinch under my scrutiny, and I took my time looking her over. She was small and slight, but not the thin slip of a runaway I remembered her as the first night we had seen her. She had sensed the bond between us even before I did, watching me and choosing to hide in the back of my truck. I blamed the human for dulling our senses by keeping me locked up in his mind, otherwise I would have recognized our mate immediately. Maybe that was why what she had of me in her head hadn't told her. She had gotten that part of me before I knew how important she really was._

_I could hear the other humans in the rooms around us, and a particularly loud thump drew my attention to the far wall where the shower was. Images of my Marie-mate, naked and wet, flashed through my mind. She showered with us, cleaning the blood and booze off our hands and out of our hair, even though the human never groomed her in return. He didn't trust himself to trust her without taking her, and I couldn't see how he hadn't taken her already from just the goddamn sight of her prancing around naked in front of us._

"You need to cut out that showering together bullshit."

_Her head snapped up, and when our eyes met, she blushed._

"You're too goddamn old for that shit, and you know it, kit. Are you just trying to give us a fucking heart attack?" _I demanded._

"Ah thought yah would be afraid of mah skin an' Ah...Ah was curious." _She mumbled._

_Both my eyebrows shot up. Our mate thought we would be afraid of her...and she was curious about our body. Maybe I wouldn't have to wait as long as I thought. Or maybe I could ease her into the idea of mating._

**You ain't doing shit when I get back in control.**

_I ignored the human and toyed with the idea. I'd wait for her to age some and let her initiate it, but if she ever got curious again, she would damn well be experimenting on our body and no one else's. But those showers were just too fucking much, and that shit needed to stop. Even the human's resolve might snap, and our little kitling would definitely be fucked if I got loose when we were both already naked and wet and touching each other._

"Kit."

_She kept her head bowed, scrubbing furiously. I had left her comment about me being afraid too long, and now she probably thought I was. Goddammit, I forgot how fucking touchy females got._

"Marie."

_I saw her shiver and fought to keep a smirk off my face. I needed her to know I was serious, so I waited until she raised her head again and looked at me._

"Your skin doesn't scare us. We're glad you have it." _I told her._

_Her eyes widened. _"Why?"

"Keeps you safe when we're not around." _I leaned closer. _"Keeps anyone else from touching you. We're real fucking selfish like that, kit."

_She drew her brows together and frowned. _"Selfish?"

_I took a step forward and wrapped an arm around her, leaning down close to her face. _"Yeah. You're the most important person in our life, the only goddamn good thing about it, and we don't want some other asshole taking you away. You belong to us now."

_She hugged me, rubbing her face against my bare chest. I growled lowly at the contact and petted her hair. Our mate handled that just fucking fine. The human was bitching about nothing again._

"Forever, kit. We'll always be there to protect and watch over you, no matter where you go. And we'll take you wherever you want to go and provide whatever you need."

_She propped her chin up on my chest to stare up at me. _"Ah'm yeh packmate too, so what do Ah need to do for yah?"

_Her question was completely innocent, unaware of all the things I'd like her to do for me. Starting with that fucking mouth. Her mouth could do a whole lot for me. Hell, I could do a whole for her with my mouth. Bet her cunt would taste so fucking good._

"Don't leave us." _I said, too distracted by my fantasies to care about how to close to a plea that was._

_She huffed. _"Yah do all that for meh, and all Ah gotta do is stick around for it? That doesn't sound fair."

"Don't do dumb shit and get yourself hurt. Try to put up with the human's whining and bitching. Clean us up after fights and nightmares. Same shit you're already doing." _I replied._

_She smiled at me. _"Alrah-ght. Ah think Ah can handle that."

_I let go of her, and she stepped back slightly, picking the shirts up for inspection. The blood had been washed out, so she hung them up in the shower, then turned back to me. I noticed some wet towels and her sleeping clothes already hanging up in there, but she smiled eagerly and drew my attention back to her._

"Ready for that movie now?" _She asked._

_I nodded and followed her back out of the bathroom. She hopped onto our sleeping nest and made room for me to sit beside her. I pulled her into my lap and let her nestle in between my legs until she found a comfortable position. I didn't give a rat's ass about the movie, but if my mate wanted me to hold her while she stared at a screen for an hour or two, I would. I rested my forehead against the back of her head and breathed in her scent while she messed with the clicker stick._

"We missed the first few minutes, but basically what hap—"

"Don't care." _I mumbled._

"Ah don't care about yeh don't care." _She retorted. _"This scientist found a way to bring back dinosaurs and decided to put them in a theme park."

"Fucking stupid."

_She laughed. _"Yep!"

"Fucking scientists, always fucking with shit they shouldn't."

_She rubbed my arm in sympathy. _"Don't worry. We already skipped all the lab parts. From here on, it's jus' blood an' carnage, Ah promise."

"And that's what you want to see?" _I asked._

"Ah'm kind of on mah period rah-ght now..."

"No shit."

_She slapped my arm, completely unconcerned about the fact that I had three nine inch metal blades stored inside it._

"So hell yes, Ah wanna see some rich white men get ripped apart by velociraptors!" _She continued._

_I bent my head down to nudge her ear. _"I forgot you had such a mean streak."

"Yah said yah don't mind it." _She mumbled, leaning back against me._

"Not a damn bit."

"Oh!" _Her eyes shot back open and she straightened up. _"It's back on! Shhh!"

_I nipped at her neck in retaliation, but she didn't even flinch. Dinosaurs roared onscreen as the stupid humans made their way into the park, and she settled back against me. I rested my chin back on top of her head and closed my eyes, holding on to the feeling of my mate in my arms, without the human between us._

"Wolvie?"

_I cracked an eye open. The screen showed a woman shaving her already hairless legs, and my mate twisted around in my lap to face me._

"Were yah asleep?"

"No."

"What happened to the person who stabbed yah?"

"We broke his face."

"Good."

_I chuckled again and gave her a quick squeeze. _"Glad you approve."

"Did yah like the Christmas gifts? The pillow was partly yeh idea." _She said._

"Fucking love it."

_She giggled._

"Liked the pictures too, the one of you and me. Mine."

_I tightened my grip on her again, and she squeezed my hand. The screen changed again, and she went back to watching it, and I went back to watching her. She obviously knew what happened, but she still reacted like it was new. Eventually, the dinosaurs were replaced by a poorly drawn tiger holding a bowl of cereal._

"Did yah mind about meh painting yeh toenails?" _She asked._

"Nah. Made you happy."

"Why can't Ah see yah fight?"

"Too dangerous."

_She lay against my chest and turned her head to huff against my neck. _"They're jus' bars."

"We can't protect you while we're in a cage."

"Ah've been in bars before."

"Too damn bad. You're not going in them now."

_She started to protest, but I cut her off._

"Rule number one. No doing dumb shit and getting yourself hurt."

"...yah got hurt." _She whispered._

"And I'd get hurt worse trying to protect you instead of watching my own ass."

_She stayed silent, then finally sighed. _"Fah-ne. But yah gotta follow that rule too."

_I let out a short bark of laughter. _"I do. I ain't trying to fuck this up, kit. I'll keep my ass out of trouble for you."

_The stupid humans in the jeep came back on the screen, but she didn't turn to watch them, just kept looking up at me._

"And Logan too?" _She asked._

"Yeah, I'll keep him in line too."

_She smiled. _"Alrah-ght."

_We watched the humans run around inside the park, trying to avoid the dinosaurs for another fifteen minutes or so. Each time the movie left, my Marie-mate would turn around and talk to me. Mostly she asked questions. What my favorite color was and if I liked lamb. I told her I didn't have one, and she made me promise to let her know when I decided. She told me she'd ask the human to take her to a place that served lamb so we could try it. More of watching the screen, and the stupid humans were starting to die now. Then another break with more questions. Why had someone stabbed me and why the fight had started. I explained about the standard beating, and how those asshole's got extra for fucking with the human's truck._

_The next time she turned to ask questions, I asked a few of my own._

"Why aren't you afraid of us?"

"Why aren't yah afraid of meh?"

_I snorted. _"What're you gonna do to us?"

"Kill yah."

_Her voice sounded so small, and her scent turned worried, almost afraid. Our mate actually fucking worried she might kill us. _

"There ain't a damn thing that can kill us, kit."

"Really?" _She demanded, gripping my arm. _"Yah really want to test which is stronger? Mah skin or yeh healing?"

"Quit your bitching." _I replied._ "Life dealt you a shit hand, but you can deal with it. And you're not going to kill me, little kitling. You don't have it in you."

_Her grip on my arm loosened, and she stroked up and down it. It wasn't the body part I wanted her stroking, but I would take it._

"Exactly. Yah know Ah'm not gonna hurt yah, an' Ah know yah won't hurt meh."

"You didn't know that when you hid in the truck."

"Ah knew yah were a mutant like meh. Yah had to be, the way yah...yah were jus'..." _She stopped and stuttered. _"...special. Beautiful."

"I was _what_?"

_She blushed and pressed her face into my neck. _"It was yah Ah first saw, Ah think. Yah were in the cage, with yah golden eyes, an' yah jus' looked...so strong. The best thing Ah'd evah seen."

_I didn't know how the human fucking stood it. Our mate was just so sweet and good, and it took all of my self control not to throw her down and take her. Her breath puffed against my neck, and I wanted it moaning in my ear, telling me how good it felt the first time I slid my fingers inside her, screaming out my name while I pounded into her. I could make her feel so fucking good. It would be so much easier to show my appreciation for her words like that than actually trying to think of something to say back._

_But I would try for my mate._

"Best thing I've ever seen is you, when we wake up in the morning. The human doesn't have as much control then, and I can see you better. You're awake by then but still here, giving us smiles and coffee. You're the only one we let sleep next to us. We kick all the other women out, but you're ours. You're special too, Marie-mate."

**You said you wouldn't fucking tell her, you lying bastard!**

"Marie-mate...that's cute." _She mumbled, trying to stop a yawn._

**She doesn't even know what it fucking means. Probably thinks it means packmate or some other bullshit, so stop worrying.**

_I shifted and laid down, pulling her down with me. She used the clicker stick to turn off the screen and flopped around until she got comfortable. I growled and pulled her back against me. I wanted my mate in my arms. She lay on her back and turned her head to the side so she wasn't facing me, exposing her neck to me again. I lay on my side with one arm wrapped around her torso and my face buried in her neck. She yawned. It was late at night for my little kitling. She fell asleep, but I stayed awake for another hour to watch her. It might be a while before I had this much control again, and I wanted to savor the time I had with her. Eventually though, I fell asleep too, holding my mate._

* * *

I woke up, back in control. Marie lay sprawled out next to me, the covers pushed down around her ankles. All she had on was one of my shirts, and the hem had been pushed up high on one side, showing the strap of her underwear. I quickly scanned up and down her legs for any signs of blood or bruises, but her pale skin didn't show any marks. I tugged my shirt back down and pulled the covers up over her, but she whined and kicked her feet until I gave up and let her shove them back down again. Her hair was a mess, but I thought I could see a mark on her neck through the curls. I pulled her hair back to check, and there it was. A big blue and purple bruise, with faint teeth marks in the middle.

_What the fuck did you do?!_

_What ya should've done on day fucking one!_

I snarled back at the Wolverine and swiped my hand over my face. What the hell had I done to her? There would definitely be blood if that bastard had taken her, but I couldn't see or smell any of hers. It was hard to remember what had happened last night though, and I didn't trust him for a goddamn second. All he'd wanted was for us to claim our mate, then he breaks free and doesn't do it? What the fuck was going on?

"Wolvie?" Marie mumbled, waking up.

I froze. What if he'd hurt her? She would hate me. Did she even want me around right now?

"Hey, kid."

I swallowed and tried to think of something better to say. Did I accidentally allow the animal in my head to take your virginity last night? Because I can't remember shit, but if I did, it won't happen again...well, of course it won't fucking happen again. Your virginity only happened once, but I promise I won't mole—fuck fuck fuck, no that sounded stupid. I didn't mean to, I swear I—

"Logan?"

Her hand rubbed the back of my neck, and I realized I'd drawn my knees up and wrapped my arms around them, with my head buried in between. She moved even closer, pressing against my side and running her hand up into my hair. She hadn't run away or started screaming at me yet, and my self control broke again. I grabbed her and pulled her into my lap, holding her tight so she couldn't get away.

"Sorry." I mumbled, burying my face into her neck. I laid an open mouth kiss on the mark and tried to tell myself it was an apology, not an excuse to taste her. "Kid, I didn't mean to—sorry."

"Logan, Ah'm alrah-ght."

I rubbed my nose behind her ear, checking her scent for any hint of fear or anger. She smelled confused and worried, but not terrified like I expected.

"Ah'm okay, sugah. He didn't hurt meh. He would never—"

I pulled back. "You don't know what the hell that animal's capable of, Marie."

Her eyes flashed and she smelled angry now. "He is a part of yah, Logan! He takes care of meh and protect meh jus' like yah do, and he is a good person!"

"You don't—"

"He's a good person!" She repeated. "And so are yah. Stop being so hard on yehself, yeh gonna give yehself a complex."

"I—fuck, kid." I muttered, pulling her back.

She didn't know. I was a shit person, and he was an animal, and she had no fucking clue who she let share a bed with her at night. And I was just selfish enough not to tell her.

"What'd you do?" I finally settled for asking, dreading the answer.

She wrapped her arms around me. "We watched that movie Ah texted yah about. Can yah not remember?"

"Not much."

Flashes started to come back to me when she mentioned the movie. Her asking questions, claiming that she could kill us, talking about the first time we saw each other.

"Did you call me beautiful?"

"...maybeh."

More memories of her washing my shirts and saying she wasn't important. I tried to remember before that, what we had done before the bathroom. I could remember sniffing the air and realizing she was on her period, but the rest was a black hole. I concentrated harder, but the Wolverine snarled and guarded those memories jealously.

_Mine! My time with her! And she felt real fuckin' good beneath me too..._

I remembered yelling at him not to take her, struggling to regain control, my body looming over hers as she tried to push me off of her.

"No, goddammit!" I pushed Marie back. "What did he do to you?!"

Her face was the perfect picture of confusion. "What? Ah jus' told yah—"

"I pinned you beneath me—under him, you were trying to get us off. I couldn't stop..."

She shifted in my lap to raise her hand and touch my face, but the motion tugged my shirt across her at a new angle, and I saw the blood smeared across the bottom, just below her stomach. My vision started to go black at the edges and I felt sick. I really had...

"Oh God, Marie." I whispered.

She looked down then back up and gripped my face more firmly, trying to force me to meet her eyes. I couldn't do it. I couldn't look at her, knowing what I did.

"Logan...Logan!"

I clenched my jaw and looked up. Her eyes were filled with concern instead of hatred.

"That's yeh blood sugah, not mine. From when yah were stabbed. The blood on yeh shirt soaked into mine. Ah only pushed him off because Ah thought yah were hurt. He didn't hold me down or touch meh in...in a bad way...or anything at all! He jus' wanted to mark meh."

She tilted her head, showing off the mark he had given her.

"An' Ah am yours. Yeh friend an' packmate an' family. Forevah, sugah. That's all that happened. Ah washed yeh shirt after that, and we watched the movie. He didn't hurt meh."

A wave of relief washed over me, along with a smaller pull of guilt.

_**Pack**-mates? That's what you told her?_

_I didn't tell her shit, jest like ya wanted._

"You're okay? You don't..." I swallowed. "...hate me?"

Her eyes softened. "No, Logan. I don't hate yah. It was really nice getting to see him. He's lonely too, yah know."

I nodded because I didn't really know what else to do. In the back of my mind, I'd always planned for the day when the Wolverine got loose and she ran or hated me, but I'd never considered that she might be okay with it.

"I uh...I'm gonna go take a shower, kid." I muttered.

"Alrah-ght. Ah'll wait 'til yah get out." She said.

Normally, she'd be trying to get in with me, and I shot her a look. She blushed and gave a sheepish shrug.

"He said us showering together was a bad idea and to quit."

I blinked at her. I'd actually been meaning to have a talk with her about that myself, but I didn't expect that asshole to do it. I thought he'd be all for getting her in there with us.

_I ain't a dumbass like ya. Havin' her in there with us is jest fuckin' askin' fer trouble._

"Yeah." I grunted, not really sure who I just agreed with.

She nodded and looked at her hands. I ruffled her hair and got up, making my way into the bathroom. I turned the water on and took a piss while I waited for it to get hot, then got in.

_What's the fucking deal between you and the kid?_

_Our mate._

_Still a kid._

_Not fer long. She'll be ready in a couple of years. Soon._

I snorted. _And you expect me to believe you'll wait until then?_

_I ain't gonna hurt our mate!_

His roar echoed in my head louder than I expected, sounding almost offended.

_I ain't taking chances._

_Fuck ya bub, I'll get out eventually. _

I shut him out and tipped my face back into the spray of the water. He might have our sweet little Marie fooled, but I knew better. What happened last night would _not _be a repeat performance. From here on out, it would just be me and the kid, and to hell with him.

_I always do..._

* * *

**A/N: Yeah, three cheers for dominant!Wolverine! WHOO! I might be a little late with the previews on tumblr tomorrow, and possibly even the chapters on Monday. But I'm going to try my damnedest to get them done! I was told yesterday night that I have to be moved into my new dorm room by noon tomorrow, and I'm not even packed. So that's gonna be fun. (read: that's not going to be fun.) I'll have all of Sunday to write though, and Monday morning since I don't have work, so if worst comes to worst, I'll just end up posting the chapters in the afternoon/evening instead of early morning. Please don't give up hope though, and send me lots of encouragement via reviews!**

**So, all of that being said, who's your favorite? Wolverine or Logan? Do you sympathize with one more than the other? Don't worry, there will be LOTS of internal struggle and angst from here on out as Logan and Wolverine learn to live with each other for Marie's sake.**

**Coming up next: Marie gets knee deep into trouble with Logan and accidentally says the L word (yeah, that's fucking _love_, kiddos) during a fight! Logan does what Logan does best and runs...**


	19. Because I Said So

**APRIL**

* * *

Marie leaned against my side while she slept, and I drove. Her head rested on my shoulder, and I had an arm wrapped around her waist. It'd been about a month since that bastard took over, and I'd kept that shit locked down ever since. Marie tried to give me some touchy feely bullshit about how he was a part of me, but I wasn't having any of it, and she dropped it eventually. Everything went smoothly since then though, until I hit a bump.

Literally, a bump in the road that jostled Marie. She whined in her sleep and slipped down, half on my chest and half in my lap. I tried to grip her tighter and pull her back up, but she huffed and kicked and pulled on my jacket. I thought she had woken up, but her eyes weren't focused, and she just tugged on my sleeve and made the same needy whining noise again. And fuck if I could resist that noise. I'd give her my damn jacket—hell, I'd give her both my shirts too, and my wallet, and my life, and anything else she fucking wanted as long as she made that goddamn noise when she asked for it.

I shrugged out of my jacket, and she immediately clung to it. I swear I saw her smell it too, but then she balled it up, set it on top of my thighs, and laid back down with her head in my lap. I almost drove off the damn road, staring down at her and trying to get a grip. I'd wanted her head in my lap just about as soon as I'd first saw her, before her age registered in my mind and I'd marked her sweet little jailbait ass as off limits. Which was why it was a really fucking bad idea for her to be doing it now. I shook her shoulder, but she just turned her head and nuzzled against my thigh, just above my knee. I took a deep breath and reflexively tightened my grip on her shoulder, my thumb brushing against the spot where my mark should be. I tried to be glad it had healed and faded, but I ended up pressing my thumb down even harder and stroking the spot.

We stayed like that for another twenty miles while I struggled for control. The best I managed was not waking her up by shoving her face against the bulge in my jeans. I stopped myself from crossing that line, but I wasn't strong to enough to actually pick her up and make her sleep on her own goddamn side of the truck. She finally woke up when I stopped at a red light, yawning and wiping the drool off her mouth as she sat up. The guy next to me gave me a thumbs up. I was pissed, but Marie just brushed it off. My damn cell phone rang before I could get worked up into a lecture, and she just fucking sat there, looking all sweet and innocent, and ain't yah gonna answer that, sugah?

I flipped the thing open and let out a grunt that was more of a snarl.

"Holy shit, it really is you! Fuck, I didn't think you even knew what a cell phone _was_! How—"

I snapped it shut. Marie frowned at me and eyed the phone curiously until it rang again. I ignored it for two more calls until she rolled her eyes.

"Stop being so pissy. Anyone desperate enough to call yah must really need yah help." She said.

I just scowled at the road. She scooted over and held my hand on top of the gear shift. Her fingers traced over my knuckles while her other hand rubbed my shoulder.

"Are yah alrah-ght, sugah?" She drawled, voice thick with concern.

I leaned my head back and let her run her hand up into my hair. No, I wasn't fucking alright. My legs were cramped, the cab was hot enough for her comfort and way too warm for me, and I really just wanted her to suck my dick already. Shit, maybe cutting out the bar flies had been a dumb idea. I wanted to come so goddamn badly, and she was sitting so fucking close, her nails scratching on my knuckles.

_Get yer shit together. This waitin' bullshit was yer fuckin' idea, so control yer dick!_

The shock of getting a lecture on self control from the motherfucking Wolverine snapped me out of it. I took a few deep breaths and concentrated on the road. I only moved to flex my hand, and Marie got the hint. She stopped with the knuckles thing, although she still rested her hand on top of mine. Her other hand hesitated in my hair, but that felt too soothing to give up, and I turned my head slightly into her hand. She kept petting me for another mile, until I had calmed down enough to mutter out some lame ass excuse.

"Gotta headache."

She frowned again but didn't question it. She'd learned not to press me too hard about the Wolverine, and she was polite enough not to call me on my bullshit by pointing out that my healing didn't let me get headaches. That politeness of hers would only last so long though, so the next time the phone rang, I reached over and picked it up.

"Haven't you ever heard of goddamn voicemail?!"

"I ain't doing no computer shit." I growled back.

"Wha—no...oh goddamn. That's _e-_mail, it's—fuck it. Never mind. Just get your hairy ass down here."

"I'm two days away, and this shit better be good."

"Good enough that you'd better make it one. Got a lead on a guy who might know something, source says he's coming this way."

I flipped the phone shut again and took the next exit.

* * *

We pulled up to the bar, but I kept the engine running. It'd been two or three years since the last time I'd been here, but I'd circulated my phone number around to the few contacts I had. Damn phone might be handy after all.

"Wait here."

I left the key in the ignition so the heater could keep going. I'd hear it if any other cars pulled up, and it was too damn cold for anyone to be walking around on foot.

"Why?" Marie asked, before I could even get the truck door open.

"Because I told you to." I said.

"How long are yah gonna be in there?"

"Five minutes, two hours, I don't fucking know, kid." I got out and grabbed the door to slam it shut.

"Ah wanna come in." Marie protested, unbuckling her seatbelt.

I sighed. "Hold on."

I reached down and flipped the child lock on the inside of my door, then slammed it and walked around to Marie's side. She looked a little confused, but she waited patiently for me to open her door. I flipped the lock down on hers too, and understanding dawned in her eyes, but I slammed her door shut too before she could get out. She tried the handle, but the child proof locks kept her locked in. I could hear her yelling at me, but I ignored it and walked into the bar. She'd be pissed at me, but I'd rather her alive and pissed than happy and dead. I barely even trusted my contacts with my own life. I sure as fuck wasn't going to trust them with hers.

"Damn, you look even shorter than the last time I saw your ugly mug!" Norman said when he saw me walk in.

"I make up for my height." I replied, adjusting myself and flexing my hand to show off my knuckles. Let him and his wife figure out which nine inches I was talking about.

"Still just as well-mannered too." Sally said. "Guess I should go pretend to clean elsewhere, huh?"

"Just give us old dogs a few minutes to catch up..." He paused, then smacked her ass when she walked by. "...babe."

Sally just laughed. "I'm about forty years too old to be called babe."

"Then how about sugar tits?" Norman called after her.

She just sniffed and kept walking upstairs. He waited until she'd disappeared to turn back to me, sliding a fresh Molson's down the counter. I popped my claws and popped the cap off. Didn't have to do that with my own bottles, ever since Christmas. I pushed down the lingering thoughts of Marie screaming in the truck and the mild guilt. Pissed still trumped dead.

"Whaddya got?" I growled.

"Nice to see you too." Norman grumbled.

I glared him down.

"Guy who can get you in touch with some people who might know some shit about the lab. Do some work for them, get some intel, maybe—"

"Not interested."

Norman looked me over. "Last I remember, you were gunning for those sons of bitches. You ain't even heard what type of work."

"I'm just working the fight circuit now." I replied, meeting his stare.

"Well, yeah. I got a pretty big match set up tonight if you want in on that, but this job—"

I took a swig. "I ain't into that shit anymore."

"So you've gone clean, huh?" Norman asked.

I just took another swig.

"You—"

I heard glass shattering, and it sounded like it was outside. I made a cutting motion with my hand, and Norman immediately went silent and listened too, like his human ears would be able to hear anything I couldn't. A few seconds passed, then I heard a thump, followed by muffled crying.

_Marie-mate!_

I was out the door before Norman got out from behind the counter, and the first thing I saw was Marie, laying on the ground with her shirt ripped open and blood welling up from a nasty gash across her stomach. I ran over and dropped to my knees, ignoring the glass on the ground around her that cut into my jeans. Blood oozed out from her hairline, where she must have hit her head when she toppled out of the broken truck window. A jagged piece of glass was still stuck inside her stomach, and I tried not to jostle it when I picked her up. I took her inside, shouting for Sally, and laid her on top of the counter.

She stirred a little bit, and I brushed her hair back to check on her head. I could feel a small knot with a cut in the middle of it, but the bleeding was probably a lot worse than the actual injury. Head wounds always bled like a bitch. I doubted she hit her head hard enough for a concussion, so I check her stomach next. The piece of glass didn't look that big, and the cuts and scrapes along her torso, stomach, and arms looked shallow.

"Let me see what happ—"

_Don't touch! Hurt mate—MINE!_

The Wolverine roared in my head, and the claws came out without any thought. Sally shrank back and kept her hands raised and where I could see them.

"What happened?" She repeated.

"Left her in the truck." I growled through the urge to keep the humans away from my mate by any means necessary.

"And what'd she do? Kick out the goddamn window?" Norman demanded.

A soft gasping sound snapped my focus back to Marie. It took me a second to realize she had woken up and was fucking laughing.

"It seemed...like a good idea...at the time." She gasped.

"And now you have a bump on your head and a piece of glass stuck in your stomach. So stop talking and try to hold still while I take it out and get you stitched back up." Sally ordered.

Marie nodded, and I tried to back up to make room for Sally, but the second she came near my mate again, I almost fucking lost it. I buried my claws in the wooden counter and choked off a snarl as I tried to get my shit under control, but I just couldn't let anyone touch my injured mate, and the Wolverine agreed.

"Hey, sugah." Marie whispered.

I focused on her voice, but it didn't really help me calm down. Honestly, a lot of my rage was directed at her. Now that I knew she would be okay, I wanted to fucking kill her.

"Ah know yeh pissed, an' Ah know Ah'm in a lot of trouble." She paused to take another few breaths and steady herself. "But yah gotta let the nice woman fix meh up."

I tried to control my breathing too, instinctively matching mine to hers. She brushed her fingers over my knuckles, then carefully threaded them through my fingers and claws to hold my hand. I focused on that instead, that she still trusted me not to hurt her even when she knew I was angry at her.

"Yer wrong, kid." I muttered.

She tried to catch my eye, until I looked up at her, and then she froze.

I leaned close. "Ya have no fuckin' idea how much trouble yer in."

She swallowed and nodded, but to her credit, she didn't flinch at all when I raised my hand to stroke her hair, even though Sally and Norman both did. She kept her head and eyes down when she rubbed her cheek against my hand, apologetic and submissive. It did a little to calm me, but not much. I stepped back, and Sally cautiously moved over to Marie's side again. She wiped Marie's head clean with a wet cloth and inspected her head the way I had. She apparently didn't find any sign of a concussion though, and finished up by swabbing the cut with a disinfectant wipe. Marie flinched a little, and another low growl broke free from my throat. When Sally moved to Marie's stomach next, I had to lean back against the table and grip the edge. I got through the initial looking over and cleaning, even clenched my jaw and made it past her whimpers when the glass came out, but I nearly broke the fucking table when Sally started in with the stitches.

"Logan."

I was at Marie's side in a second, and she reached for my hand again. I covered her tiny hand with my own instead, unable to force the claws back in. She laid her other hand on top of mine, rubbing at the seam where the duller top of the blades met my skin.

"Go take a walk, sugah. Ah'll be fah-ne." She said, flashing a tight smile.

I was reluctant to leave her, and the Wolverine was dead set against it. But I didn't know how to fix her, and Sally did. Breaking furniture and popping my claws wasn't helping her help Marie, either.

"I'll be right outside." I muttered.

Marie squeezed my hand. "It'll jus' be a few minutes, an' then yah can yell at meh all yah want."

I grunted and made myself let go. I couldn't think of any threat that would even begin to cover what I would do to them if my mate wasn't okay when I came back, so I just snarled at Norman on the way out. I think he got the message. The wind hit me when I stepped outside, and I sucked in deep lungfuls of freezing air. April might be spring in other places, but this was fucking Canada. Thick clouds blocked out the sun, and the snow would probably get worse the later it got.

_Oh yeah, lets jest have a real nice friendly chat about the motherfucking weather while some old hag stabs a needle INTO OUR MATE!_

I slammed a hand down on top of the hood, gripping the metal and trying to focus past the memories of labs and needles and drowning.

_They ain't doing that to her!_

_Not that ya would fuckin' know if they were, 'cause ya ain't there!_

_You want me to bust back in there, throw her over my shoulder, and hole up with her in another seedy motel?_

_YES!_

_And then what, genius? Let her die because her stomach got infected and we didn't know how to fix it?!_

The Wolverine just snarled in return, a wordless noise of helpless rage. I felt like doing the same, but one of us had to keep our shit together for Marie. He finally settled into hateful agreement, although I could feel him prowling back and forth in my head.

_Five fuckin' minutes, bub._

I dug around in the truck for my emergency smokes and lit up a cigar. The repetition of inhaling and exhaling kept my breathing steady, and I went through it in three and half, then immediately lit another one. A minute and a half later, I stubbed out the cigar and walked back in.

"Looooo..." Marie called.

She was still on the bar, and she tried to sit up and grab for me at the same time. The hand propping her up slid out from beneath her, and she almost fell off the damn thing entirely, but I caught her. She snuggled into my chest and hummed, rubbing her face against my shirt. She smelled like booze. I glared up at Norman.

"It'll keep her from feeling it until the evening at least." He said, meeting my gaze.

"Ya never hear of some goddamn advil?!" I snapped.

"Don b'mad." Marie slurred.

"She can sleep it all off in the guest room upstairs." Sally offered.

Marie hiccuped. I gave the best of them my worst glare, picked my mate up, and carried her up the stairs. She whined about me stomping too loud, but I wasn't really in the mood to be fucking courteous. She was alive and safe, and that was all that mattered. I still laid her down slowly on the bed though, and she kept her arms locked around my neck.

"M'sorry."

I let her hold on for a bit longer. I had started to remember more of that night over the past couple months, and I knew she had promised to obey rule number one. All we had asked of her was not to do stupid shit and get herself hurt, and she fucking promised. Then I leave her alone and not five goddamn minutes later, she's kicking in windows and flopping around in a pile of broken glass.

But she was still my mate, and no matter how pissed I got at her, that wouldn't change. I finally settled for giving her cheek a soft nudge back before I peeled her off of me. She burrowed underneath the covers, flipping up the blankets to hide from the light. If I wasn't so pissed, it might have been funny. I gave her one last pat, then stood up and flipped the lights out. The moment I opened the door though, she sat up in a panic.

"You'll be back?" She asked.

Her fear must have sobered her up, because she smelled scared and her eyes were wide and almost clear. I walked back over to her and cupped her cheek.

"I'll always be back, kid."

I kissed her forehead, and she relaxed back into the bed. She didn't protest when I left this time, and I let the door swing shut behind me. Norman was waiting at the bar, watching me carefully as I came down the stairs. Sally had cleaned off the counter and gone somewhere else, back into the kitchen from her scent trail.

"Helluva kid you got there." Norman said.

I grunted and picked up a bottle on the counter. The lip smelled like Marie, and I could taste her on the glass when I took a heavy swig.

"Threatened to shank me." He continued.

I raised an eyebrow and took another drink without comment.

"Insisted you took real good care of her...aside from locking her in trucks."

I grunted. "Left the heater running."

"Could've just let her come in." He said.

Except that had been my call, not his or hers or anyone else's. I'd give her anything she wanted, but when it came to her safety, she needed to learn to fucking follow orders. I held Norman's stare and chugged the rest, then slammed the bottle back down on the counter.

"When's the match?"

* * *

I could see the second asshole circling around me, trying to get to my six while the first asshole distracted me in front. He threw a few quick punches, and I took them on my upraised arms or shoulders. He finally threw a haymaker just as the guy on my six started to make his move. I leaned to the side and caught the first asshole's arm, swinging him around and throwing him into the second asshole behind me. They both slammed against the metal mesh, the first asshole bouncing off his buddy and stumbling forward. I dropped him with a right hook, but the second asshole had shaken it off and was on me before I could really get into it.

He actually managed to land a punch or two, but I got a couple of my own in too. And my fists were backed up by metal bones underneath. He stumbled back and slumped against the metal, but before I could go in and finish it, I heard the cage door opening behind me. I turned to scope out the new challenger, and two arms came up beneath my own, locking me in a full nelson. The second asshole had been close to passing out, and I could tell from the smell of his blood and sweat that it was the first that I'd pegged as out for the count. Should've paid better attention, but that was a moot point when the third asshole started slugging me.

The crowd went wild, seeing the Wolverine getting his ass handed to him. It hurt like a son of a bitch, and even my healing factor couldn't keep up with the repeated punches, but the bones in my face were metal too. I'd have bruises for a bit and I was spitting out blood to suck in air, but the fucktard was going to break his head before he broke my nose. I planned to give it a few more punches to really get the crowd going, but then he started laying into my stomach. No metal bones protecting that, just squishy internal organs. I'd probably piss blood for the rest of the night, maybe even tomorrow morning. I doubled over and tried to find my footing. If I could just get my feet planted beneath me, I could shake off the asshole behind me and get myself some breathing room until my healing factor caught up in a minute or two, but the floor was slick with blood, sweat, puke, and piss.

The roar of the crowd welled up so loud, it almost felt like a second punch to my sensitive hearing, but one scream cut right through all the others. I growled in answer, and the scream sounded again, not even words, just a shout of anger and violence.

_Lemme out! Mate's screaming fer us, gotta show her we're Alpha!_

The Wolverine let out his own roar in answer to the scream, and I must have echoed it out loud because the two asshole both hesitated for a second. That was all the time I needed to get my feet under me. I reached my arms back and grabbed the asshole behind me by his neck and shoulders. I bent down and tucked myself under him, using his height against him when I flipped me over me. His flailing leg caught the asshole in front of me, and they both went down. I got on top of the third asshole, straddling his waist and slugging him repeatedly the way he'd done to me. The second asshole tried to grab me from behind again, but it was a clumsy, desperate move. I slammed my elbow back into his face without breaking my rhythm, finishing up by pounding my fist back down into the other asshole's face.

I huffed, and the crowd went silent. All three of the challengers were out, and I could feel the Wolverine still pulsing just beneath my skin. A shout set off the crowd again, this time cheering for me. Crowds were fickle, traitorous sons of bitches, but that first shout had been what I was waiting for. I staggered to my feet and glared out at the crowd until I met her eyes. She stood at the bar, holding my jacket. My tags lay over her shirt, and she cheered again, her cheeks flushed and her eyes wild. _I'd proven I was the strongest male here, and she accepted my claim. I'd mark her next and let the crowd watch, so they'd all know she was mine._ I stalked out of the cage and made my way over to her. _My female was deceptively strong, worthy of being chosen. Her strength meant she needed a strong Alpha like me to keep her in line. She was young and rash, but loyal. A little discipline would turn her into a fine mate. _She stepped forward when I approached, eagerly leaning into me when I wrapped an arm around her, but she smelled confused when she looked up at me.

"Wolvie?" She asked.

I straightened back up and gripped the side of the bar. The wood splintered under my fingers, but I kept my grip on my ma—on _Marie's_ waist light. The Wolverine still growled and strained in my mind, but I evened my breathing and blinked slowly, concentrating on Marie until I got him pushed back down. She rubbed my arm and placed her hand on top of mine on the bar while I calmed down. I could feel people staring and hear their whispers, but I ignored everything except her and the feeling of her hands on me.

"Not tonight, kid." I said.

She looked a little disappointed.

"Ya really wanna talk to him?" I didn't wait for a reply. "'Cause he's just as fucking pissed, maybe even more. Ya promised him not to pull shit like that."

She winced and started to reply. I pulled her closer and leaned down to nudge against her ear.

"We'll have a real long talk about that...later. Right now, just sit tight for a bit." I whispered.

I tried to leave it at that and pull back, but I couldn't resist nipping at where our mark should be first. I walked her backwards a few steps and sat her down on one of the barstools, leaning on the counter right next to her. Norman slid me a Molson's, and a couple of people came up to congratulate me on the win while I drank. They all looked at Marie, from curious to jealous to appreciative. The men knew better than to look too long though, and none of them spoke to her directly. She didn't speak to any of them either, just sipped her water and looked right back at them. She still winced at a few of the louder noises and shouting, but she looked a lot better than she had before.

A little over an hour later though, she started yawning. I cut off my conversation with Norman and tugged her off the stool. A few girls called after us as I took her upstairs, and she received several nasty glares from some of them, but she kept her head high and her eyes straight ahead. I kept my arm around her the whole way up. She jumped and woke up a bit when I slammed the door shut behind us. I could still hear the noise from below us, but it was muffled enough that she probably couldn't. She stood right in front of me and bit her lip.

"Sooooo."

I snorted. "So."

"Are yah gonna yell at meh now?" She asked.

"I don't know what to do with ya, kid." I answered, leaning back against the door and folding my arms.

The Wolverine growled in the back of my head, muttering about discipline and spankings. I was honestly tempted, but I still didn't feel entirely in control. I wasn't going to risk letting him out again, especially when we were both angry at her, so I shut that thought down.

She huffed at my reply. "Not locking meh in the truck would be a good start."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "I told you to wait until I got back."

"But yah didn't tell me why! Ah still don't know why!" She stopped and took a breath, continuing in a more respectful tone. "Norm and Sally are nice people. They helped meh, and Ah came inside anyway, so why couldn't Ah have just done that from the start?"

"Because I told you to wait."

"And how'd that work out for yah?!" She demanded.

I gave her a low warning growl, and she lowered her eyes. I could smell the anger coming off of her though, and her ridiculously tiny fists were clenched at her sides.

"Yah treated meh like a retarded toddler that would drink Draino the second yah turned yah back. Honestly, Logan. What did yah think would happen?" She asked, huffing again.

"I didn't think ya would pour yerself a goddamn glass." I growled.

She blanched. "Okay, yes. Breaking the window was stupid, and Ah'm sorry."

I snorted again and she glared back at me.

"Ah am!" She insisted. "Ah have yah in mah head; Ah know yah were trying to protect meh. Ah jus' don't understand what yah were protecting meh from, an' yah never tell meh anything, an' Norm is jus' a nice old man who—"

"That _nice old man_ is an ex mercenary who's killed more people in more places than you can even imagine, little girl." I snapped.

"...well. Now Ah know." She muttered, daring to look me in the eye.

I glared right back at her. "And if you had trusted me from the start, you wouldn't know anything about that shit and you wouldn't have gotten hurt."

She didn't even flinch. "And if yah had trusted meh, yah could've just said that first, and Ah wouldn't have had to find out like this."

"You don't need to be knowing this stuff, kid."

"Yes, Ah do!"

"No, your only job—"

She cut me off. "Is to let yah take care of meh?"

"Yes!"

"No!"

_Always take care of her, don't let her leave, don't fuck this up!_

We were both breathing heavily and glaring at each other, but she got the next word in while I was trying to deal with the Wolverine.

"Yah so stupid, Logan! Yah think Ah can't do anything for yah, but yeh wrong! Yah can trust meh, and tell meh things, and let meh see yah fight! Ah can do stuff for yah, too!"

"You don't have t—"

"Yes, Ah do, because Ah love yah, yah asshole!" She shouted.

Her eyes widened, and she snapped her mouth shut. My mouth hung open a little bit. The Wolverine went crazy in my head—_she loves us, she said she loves us, our mate loves us back—_but I was already fumbling for the door knob behind me. Marie didn't try to stop me when I opened the door and practically ran out. I took the steps two at a time and strode out the bar, breaking into a jog as soon as I got outside.

_No, you fuckin' cowardly cunt! Get yer ass back in there before ya fuck this up fer good! NOW!_

I slammed my hands down on the hood of the truck again.

_Don't ya fuckin' dare leave her! She loves us, she fuckin' lo—only good thing in our goddamn miserable—no one else will ever—god-fuckin'-dammit Logan!_

"Logan!"

Marie stood over me. How had I gotten on the ground? She bent down and grabbed my hand. I tried to pull away, but she dug her nails in and gripped hard enough to draw blood.

"Come inside, Logan." She ordered.

I didn't look up from our hands. "M'gonna fuck this up."

"Yah already are. And look where I am."

I actually did look up at her then, just to see what the hell she was talking about. She crouched down in front of me, still holding onto my hand.

"Ah'm rah-ght here, sugah. So go ahead an' fuck up an' run. Ah'll find yah, didn't Ah promise yah that too?"

She shuffled a little closer, keeping her movements slow and cautious.

"Ah fucked up too tonight, but yah didn't give up on meh. An' Ah ain't evah gonna give up on yah. Yeh mah best friend, an' Ah love yah, an' Ah swear to Gawd, Logan. If yah don't come back inside rah-ght now, Ah'll knock yah out and drag yeh man-puppy ass back in mahself." She threatened, flexing her grip on my hand.

_Such a strong mate, not puttin' up with any of yer shit. We don't deserve to even be lookin' at her, but she loves us, so ya damn well better hold on to that now, bub, before she realizes her mistake._

I stood back up and let her pull me back inside. Several people flat out stared at us, but Norman was the only who called me out on it.

"Where'd you run off to in such a hurry?" He asked.

I cleared my throat. "Got something out of my truck."

"Yeah, what's that?"

"He got a goddamn clue. Have a nice night, Norm." Marie said, smiling sweetly as she dragged me up the stairs.

I stumbled into the room after her, and she tugged me down onto the bed with her. I kicked off my boots and we shifted around until we were both comfortable. I wanted to lay on top of her, with my face in her neck, but I knew that made her feel smothered. She lay next to me instead and let me drape an arm over her. Her hair fanned out next to my face, and if I craned my neck just right, I could reach her shoulder. We lay like that for several minutes while I tried to figure out where my balls had disappeared to.

"Love ya, kid." I finally mumbled.

She kissed my hand. "Ah know."

* * *

**A/N: Wow, look at how long this is! Okay, confession time though. The corresponding TBH chapter isn't up yet. I promise that as you're reading this, I'm working on it though, and I promise to have it up by this evening. I finished BBW first because I write it first, and it seems to be the overall favorite, but I definitely don't intend to miss an update for TBH. It just won't get put up until later in the evening today, so please be patient and bear with me! I also promise I'll get around to answering all of your lovely reviews, I'm just writing this first. I figure you'd rather have a chapter than an answer.**

**That being said, what do you think so far? I definitely feel like Marie and Logan saying I love you for the first time should happen in the midst of a fight! They just seem like the type ;)**

**A lot of you have also had questions about why Marie's Wolvie doesn't recognize that Logan's Wolverine is treating Marie as their mate. There IS an explanation for that, but it doesn't come for much later. So please, please just trust me and go with it for now. I'm sure you'll all also have questions about what this means for Logan and Marie's relationship, now that they've said I love you for the first time. Please see the above paragraph where Marie calls Logan her "best friend." Yes, he's been friendzoned. She's recognized that she cares for him, even loves him, but right now she can't really see him as anything other than a friend and protector. But don't worry! Her feelings WILL develop over the next few chapters, and by the time October comes around again, she'll be dealing with her own fledgling crush on her special little man-puppy. Things will progress from there, until they reach the mansion, where shit really starts going down.**

**Coming up next: Logan keeps cage fighting and lets Marie keep watching. But that doesn't sit well with a couple of jealous bar flies who want their old wham-bam-thanks-bitch Wolverine back, and Marie has to stand up for herself...**


	20. Bar Fights and Calendar Whores

Marie convinced me to let her come with me to a few of the fights. It was stupid of me to give in, but she'd done well seeing me fight at Norman's, and it kept the Wolverine calm. I would have sworn up and down that her being around us after the fights would have brought him out in a bad way, in a "claim our mate by fucking her up against a wall" way, but the two of us managed to work out a compromise. He wanted Marie to see us fight, to see how strong we were, and fuck it, I'll admit that really did it for my ego too. He really liked how she waited for us, let us hold her close after the matches, everyone in the bar watching and knowing exactly who she belonged to. I let him have a bit more freedom in the cage and a few moments with Marie just after, and he behaved well enough the rest of the time.

I had control in between our matches, while some dumb fuckers fought each other to see who'd get to fight me. It was one of the stupidest thing I'd ever heard of, sending men who were already tired and wounded into the cage with me, but that's the way these matches were set up. And the jackpot for the winner was a couple grand, so I drank my beer and didn't complain. Marie sat right the fuck next to me, close enough that I could keep an eye on her and an arm on her waist at all times. She stayed real quiet whenever she went out with me, but she watched all the fights with a fascination that sometimes worried me. Everything went fine though, until one of the bar flies fucked it up.

"Hey, champ." She purred, sauntering up to me. "You gonna ignore us all night? We're real big...fans."

Her friends whistled and winked at me from their table.

"Fuck off, April. I'm busy." I tightened my grip on Marie's waist, and the whore's eyes flickered over to her, then narrowed.

"It's May." She snapped, turning her glare on me.

I shrugged. "Close enough."

She pouted, then looked me up and down and sighed. "Only for you, champ. And don't worry, I'm sure you can find a babysitter for the night."

"He's not mah dad." Marie said.

"Oh?" She gave Marie a look and a sneer. "Guess you're just friends then, huh?"

Marie sipped her water and stayed quiet. I was about to step back into the conversation, but the calendar whore continued before I had a chance.

"'Cause the last time he was here, we got to be real good friends." She said, smirking down at Marie.

"Just because a man lets yah touch his dick, it doesn't mean yeh friends." Marie paused and looked her over. "Don't yah think yeh a little old not to know that?"

"Yeah well...don't you think you're a little young to be touching his dick?" The whore snapped back. "He needs a real woman, not some cabbage patch kid. We've fucked in ways you can't even imagine, so—"

Marie tried to tug my arm back, but I shrugged her hand off and stood.

"Don't think I won't hit ya jest 'cause ya got a cunt." I growled in the whore's face.

Her mouth dropped open a bit with a small whimper, and she stared stupidly at me.

"No, yeh not gonna hit her 'cause she's smaller than yah, an' yah could literally break her entire face, an' she doesn't deserve that. So sit down." Marie said, pulling on my arm again.

I let her pull me back, but I stayed standing and leaned against the counter instead of sitting again. The whore seemed to realize she'd done fucked up and glanced nervously between the two of us. Marie turned her attention back to the whore, although she kept a hand on top of mine.

"Yah wanna fuck him? Fah-ne. It ain't none of mah business who he sticks his dick in, an' who knows? Yah might get his pants down yet. But the difference between yah and meh?" Marie leaned closer and stared the whore down. "He takes his boots off when he's with meh."

The whore blinked a couple of times. "What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Go find a man who'll actually remember yah name an' treat yah with the respect yah deserve, an' maybe then yah'll find out." Marie replied.

The whore looked between the two of us and finally scrunched her face up in anger. "Fuck you!"

Marie just stared calmly back, until the whore broke down and stormed off. I leaned down and pulled Marie closer.

"Ya alright, kid?" I asked.

She nodded and took another sip of her water.

"I ain't gonna fuck her."

"Not mah business." She repeated.

I raised an eyebrow. "Thought you said my business was your business, and I should start telling you shit."

"There _is_ such thing as too much information, Logan. An' Ah really don't need to know about yeh choice of...bed partners." She mumbled.

"Bed partners?" I teased, nudging her side and trying to get her to look up so I could see her blush.

"Whatever. Yah know what Ah mean." She huffed. "An' if yah wanna come back after yah drop meh off at the hotel—"

"Hey." I lifted her chin and made her look at me. "I ain't gonna be fuckin' anyone. You wanted to watch that movie, remember?"

She blushed and bit her lip. "Yeah, but it's jus' a stupid movie an'—"

"And nothing." I interrupted. "You said we were best friends, right?"

Her lips twitched up in a shy smile, and she nodded into my hand.

"We're pack-mates, and you come first. Always, kid." I said, holding her gaze until she nodded again. "Good. I got another match coming up, and we'll get outta here after that. You gonna be okay 'til then?"

She whispered yeah, and I let go to brush my hand through her hair.

"Hey, Joe!" I called, waving the bar tender over. "Keep an eye on her. And you..."

"Ah'll wait rah-ght here. Ah won't go anywhere else, Ah won't speak to anyone, an' Ah'll yell if Ah need yah." Marie repeated the rules dutifully.

"Good girl." I leaned closer and grinned. "Kiss for luck?"

Her blush came back, but she leaned up and pressed a quick kiss against my cheek. I could already feel the Wolverine stirring again, waking back up at the satisfaction of her marking me in front of everyone else at the bar. I ruffled her hair before I walked off, and people moved aside from me. I walked into the cage, shooting her a grin and a wink. The match started, and I did my usual routine of letting him think he had a chance. Marie didn't cheer for us yet. Her screaming really did it for the Wolverine, and it was hell to try to hold him back when we could both hear our mate screaming for us to win. We'd already ended two matches in a matter of minutes because of that.

I let the other asshole get a few more licks in before I turned serious. He threw another punch, and I batted his hand away and hit him in the jaw. _The crowd roared, and I cocked my head, listening for my mate. _I couldn't hear Marie cheering. _Was my mate not impressed?_ The asshole managed to stay upright, and I snarled in annoyance and punched him again. Lots of shouting and noise, but not Marie's screams. _Maybe I needed to show her what I was really capable of. The other male challenger tried to throw a desperate punch, but I caught his arm and tossed him across the cage. The crowd gasped, but my mate still refused to acknowledge my dominance._

Trouble?

_Shit, the human had a point, my mate might be in trouble! I turned and scanned the crowd. Marie-mate wasn't waiting for me at the bar, where I'd ordered her to stay. My mate may be rash, but I didn't think she would defy an order like that without a damn good reason. Either way, disobedience or trouble, I was finding my mate right the fuck now._

_The male challenger tackled me from behind, but I didn't even move. No human could hope to push me around with my metal bones. And he was keeping me from my mate._

Don't kill...yet.

_I grabbed the male behind me and threw him to the ground, crouching over him. He stared up into my eyes—not the human's, **mine**. The Wolverine. His scent filled with fear, and he pissed himself when I snarled in his face. I stood back up, confident he wouldn't make the mistake of challenging me again. And if he did, I'd just kill him. I turned back and saw my Marie-mate. Her attention was drawn away to another female before she noticed me though. I snarled at being ignored, and she turned back. Our eyes met, but the female behind her drew my gaze next. She held a shotgun, pointed at my mate._

Marie!

_I roared, and my Marie-mate instantly dropped to the floor. The bullets passed over her and hit someone in the crowd._

Fuck this cage shit, get out NOW!

_For once, the human and I were in agreement, and I sliced through the metal cage like paper. The humans in the crowd were scared and panicking, afraid of being shot again. I brandished my claws, and they decided they were more afraid of me and got out of my way. I got close enough to the bar to see my mate huddled on the floor in front of it. She looked up at me and whimpered. I heard the other female reload the shotgun, but it wouldn't kill me, and it sure as fuck wasn't going to stop me from getting to my mate. I sliced off the end of the barrel, but the female pulled the trigger anyway. Hot lead went everywhere, most of it hitting my chest. The force of the blow from such close range knocked me back, but I forced myself to remain standing._

Get Marie, get her out of here, Marie Marie Marie!

_I snarled in agreement, but when I looked up, I saw my mate jumping over the counter. I staggered forward, trying to reach her before she got herself hurt or shot or killed or—_

Fuck, fuck, fuck!

_I heard the crunch of bone and a skittering sound. Rifle on the floor. Good, away from Marie, can't be shot now, just injured, a broken bone can be fixed, get to her now—My mate stood up, holding the other female by the hair._

"Don't!"

_She slammed the female's face against the edge of the bar._

"Hurt!"

_She did it again._

"Mah!"

_And again._

"Friend!"

_My Marie-mate dropped the female and looked up at me. I think my jaw might have been on the floor, but it was hard to think with all of my blood suddenly rushing below my belt. I only got harder when she bared her teeth at me in a triumphant snarl. I wanted to throw her down and claim her in the middle of the floor, show all these pathetic humans who she belonged to, my fierce little kitling mate._

"Keep it for repairs."

_My attention snapped back into focus. She was talking to the bar tender, who had his hand out, offering her something._

Told him to fucking watch her!

"And someone call an ambulance for whoever else got shot." _She ordered, raising her voice so the crowd could hear._

_Fuck, she was sexy when she got all dominant. I'd show her what dominance really meant, have her begging for it, maybe even let her try it a bit._

Promised to wait! Gotta make sure she's okay first, ya bastard!

_Oh yeah, I was definitely going to make sure she was okay. I was going to take her back to the motel and check over every fucking inch of her. She grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels on her way out from behind the counter, my smart little mate. She knew what kind we liked and that we'd need it when she took the lead out of our chest. I grabbed her the second she got close and wrapped my arm around her. She leaned into me and rubbed her face against my side as I walked her out. No one tried to stop us as we left._

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so the last chapter was super long, and now this chapter is really short. If you think about it, they even out to be two normal length chapters...please don't be mad.**

**I hope this quelled all of your need for a Marie x bar fly smack down! It was really fun to write, and the next chapter will continue back at the motel where this one left off. I didn't really plan for Wolverine to make a cameo here, but he just sort of got out. I almost feel kinda like Logan, with Wolverine just popping into my head without an invitation.**

**Which brings me to a very important question. I ended it here because it felt like a really good stopping point, and it lets me ask you this: Do you want the next chapter to start out with Logan having gotten control on the ride back to the motel or with Wolverine still in control? I know you all loved Wolvie the last time he made an appearance (and I love writing him!), but I still feel like Logan is the main character, so it's really difficult for me to balance the two. Quick note though, if I do write the next chapter starting out with Wolvie in control, Logan WILL eventually get it back and narrate the last half of the chapter. Like I said, he's the main character. But if you want a little bit more WolviexMarie time before then, vote for him. If you think this was enough of Wolvie and want Logan back already, vote for Loan.**

**Cast your votes with reviews of course!**

**Coming up next: Marie has to deal with a pissed off, overprotective man-puppy and try to get it through both their heads that they can't protect her from everything...**


	21. Lotta Pain, Kit

**JUNE**

* * *

_I stayed in control as I drove my mate back to our nesting ground. I wanted her close, but I needed to stay focused on checking for any humans following us and remembering how to drive. The human had figured it out by himself after we lost most of our memory, and my muscles automatically did most of the work for me, shifting gears and adjusting the speed. I recognized the signs and hanging lights as important, but I couldn't remember what for. It was late enough at night and the human settlement was small enough that we were the only ones on the road, so I just ignored them. I stopped the human's truck in front of the entrance to our nesting ground and got out. I waited at the doorway, but my mate didn't follow._

She's waiting for you to open her door, jackass.

_I growled in annoyance. I didn't have time for stupid human customs, but I would humor my mate. She at least looked a little sheepish when I opened her damn door for her. I opened the other door for her too, pulling her close to me and kicking it shut once we were inside. I hadn't smelt any major pain coming off of her while I drove, but I still patted my mate down to be sure. She looked surprised, but kept still and compliant while I checked her over. Her left side seemed tender, but none of her ribs were broken. She also had a large bruise forming over her cheekbone, but other than that, I couldn't find any other serious injuries. I wanted to strip her down and rub my scent all over her, but we didn't have time for that. She wasn't hurt, and that was the most important thing, so I could wait to do that later. I did rub my cheek against her head just to scent mark her a little, then sat on the bed while she got a pair of pliers out of her bag._

_I took a long swig of the whiskey she'd snatched me. _"Make it quick, we're leaving in twenty, kit."

_She turned around and glared at me. _"That's not even enough time to get all the lead out!"

"Then get started."

_She let out an angry huff, looking so cute and upset. It amused me until I remembered the way she fought back at the bar. My innocent little kitling had been fucking vicious. I might not even have to go back and kill the other female, she could be dead of a concussion already. My Marie-mate might look all flustered now, but she was worthy of being my mate for a damn good reason. I swallowed hard and tried to push down the ever present urge to claim her as she stomped over to me. She bent slightly and examined my chest, so I lowered my arm and straightened my shoulders, showing off my muscles for her. I knew the sight of my bare chest had an effect on women, but even I wasn't expecting it when she started to kneel in front of me. Her eyes flickered back up to mine with shy innocence, and I almost choked on my own spit._

Quit drooling over her, you bastard!

_She changed her mind and straightened. Damn shame too. But my disappointment didn't last when she placed one knee on the bed and tried to push my shoulder back._

"Lay down." _She ordered._

_Fuck, was this even real or had I passed out? It seemed too close to what I had imagined back at the bar, letting my little mate try out being dominant. But it was pure innocence that shone in her eyes._

"Please?"

_Shy and innocent, hesitantly gripping my shoulder instead of trying to push me down again. And damn if that didn't make it even harder not to just roll her over and take her. I slowly laid down instead, mainly just to see what she planned on doing. Which turned out to be straddling me. And then crawling up my body. Shit, how certain was I this wasn't a dream?_

"Ah'm gonna have to sit on yah for a bit. That alrah-ght?" _She asked, placing a hand on my side._

_I felt myself nodding slowly, and I gripped the sheets in an effort to keep myself perfectly still. My mate would be the fucking death of me, and I would go without complaint. She lowered herself down on me and straddled my stomach. Just a little lower there, kitling..._

"Yah mind, Wolvie?"

_I looked at her upraised hands and tried to concentrate on something other than the feel of her pert ass pressed so fucking close to—_

"What?"

"Ah gotta take mah gloves off for this, an' mah skin—"

"S'beautiful." _I muttered without thinking._

_She stared at me. _"What?"

_Her face was the perfect picture of confusion, like she really didn't know what all that smooth, creamy skin did to me. Little flashes of how it looked wet and soapy in the shower burst in my mind, and my jeans started to feel tight. I cleared my throat and tried to talk right, but my voice still came out rough with lust._

"Nothin' wrong with yer skin, kit. S'beautiful, and I trust ya."

_She blushed and smiled shyly, and goddamn I hated that the human always wore such tight jeans. My mate probably couldn't feel it with that damn belt buckle in the way, but my cock was pressing painfully into the zipper. I didn't have that problem for long though, once she grabbed the pliers and started in on my chest. The pain made it a helluva lot easier to get my dick under control. The first big piece hurt like hell, but the second was a real motherfucker. It felt like it was fucking welded to my bones, and she had to brace a hand on my shoulder for leverage in order to yank it out. Even I couldn't stay calm during that, and I snarled past my clenched teeth. Sure, I'd gone through worse, but that didn't mean this didn't hurt like a bitch._

_I felt a small hand cup the back of my neck and lift my head up. Cool glass pressed against my lips and whiskey flowed into my mouth. I got the picture and gulped down nearly half the bottle. My sweet Marie-mate eased my head back down and brushed the hair and sweat off my forehead. I closed my eyes again and leaned into her touch. I'd never felt anything like it before. Some women had helped fix the human up before, but not even they had been this gentle. And I sure as hell didn't get any of that treatment. The human only let me out when the killing started and then locked me back up again right after. This soft touching while I was hurt was completely new to me, and it felt damn good. So good I didn't even care about my chest anymore. Hell, I was tempted to get myself hurt on a regular basis if it meant she'd touch and worry over me like this every time._

_Then she leaned forward to put the bottle on the nightstand, pressing her chest briefly against my face. If I hadn't been so out of it with pain, I probably would have taken the opportunity to get a quick lick in, but her little breasts were gone again before I could. It was damn good for my morale though. Fucking loved those cute little titties of hers._

_She went back to work though, and that just ruined all my fun. I hated being shot. I could handle being stabbed or punched or run over, but getting shot was just such a fucking pain in the ass. She didn't work for long though before she sat up again._

"Alrah-ght, hold on a sec, Wolvie." _She told me._

_I lifted my head slightly to get a good view of her and see what was the matter. She slid down my hips to sit on my thighs again, and my heart almost stopped for a second. It damn well did when she started messing with my belt buckle._

Fuck, Marie! What are you doing?

"Whatcha doin' there, kit?" _I growled._

_I'd told the human and myself that I'd wait until she was older and ready before I took her, but if she kept messing around like this, I wouldn't be responsible for what I did._

"Yeh belt buckle keeps digging into meh. Yah don't mind if I take yeh belt off, do yah?" _She asked in a perfect little girl voice._

_Oh hell YES, she could take it off. Take off my damn jeans too. Hell, I'd even help her with her clothes. We could just get naked. I'm sure my chest would feel a lot better after a real good fuck._

"Yes." _I blurted out, nodding eagerly._

_But she paused and lifted her hand. _"Oh. Yah do mind?"

"No..." _Wait, what? I wanted this to happen! _"...yes!"

_Shit, what was I even saying?! My Marie-mate didn't understand either, because she cocked her head and looked at me like I wasn't even speaking English. A wave of annoyance passed over me. I'd never gotten so fucking bothered over a female before. The few times the human did let me out with women, I was confident and domineering. Not stumbling over myself like a fucking pup._

"I...yes, ya can...if it's hurtin' ya..." _I muttered, trying to sound like I was just concerned for her. It sounded stupid even to me, and I felt my face get hot. What the fuck was that?! The Wolverine did not blush!_

Apparently you do, bub.

Shut the fuck up.

_Her fingers fumbled on the buckle, brushing against the zipper. My cock started to come back to life as she tugged on the belt, and it twitched in my jeans when she gave the belt a hash tug. I groaned, and her head came up to shook me a worried glance._

"Did Ah hurt yah?" _She asked._

_I quickly shook my head. _"No, I..." _Shit! _"...my chest. Lotta pain, kit."

_I tried to look like I was in more pain than just from the strain in my jeans. She gave me a sympathetic look and went even slower, drawing out the process. I didn't fucking complain._

You're a dirty fucking animal.

Like ya ain't enjoyin' this jest as much.

_She finally got the belt off and laid it next to her gloves, then slid back up. I barely resisted the urge to thrust against her, and I groaned again when she stopped short and sat just above my hip bones._

"Yah alrah-ght?"

_I breathed out slow and nodded at her._

"Is yeh chest...?" _Her voice trailed off and she stared at me with real concern._

She knows it ain't that bad, so what now, jackass?

"It's my uh...healing. It does...stuff...to the lead. Tries to um, absorb it or something." _I gave her a deep, soulful look. _"...it's real bad, kit."

You stupid, fucking—

Like you haven't given that same "I'm broken inside, fix me with your cunt" look to every bar fly in the country.

_I pushed the human's voice back down, and she rubbed my side soothingly. I sighed and enjoyed the feel of her tiny hands rubbing over me without any of the worthless guilt that bothered the human so much._

"It's alrah-ght, Wolvie. Ah'll try to hurry." _She said, obviously trying to reassure me._

_I held in my disappointment. _"Uh...yeah."

_She waited for me to give her a nod before she continued. The first two were the worst, and the smaller pieces she dug out weren't nearly as bad. The wounds finally closed up and healed over though, and Marie pulled out a pocketknife. I wondered where the fuck that knife had been during her fight with the other female, but as strong as my mate could be, maybe she just didn't have it in her to stab someone. She cut off my thoughts when she started slicing through my skin and muscle to get to the remaining lead shards. She did a pretty good job at getting them out, never having to make more than two cuts. Finally, she smoothed her hands over my chest one last time, without any twinges from pressing against lead trapped beneath my skin._

"Alrah-ght, Ah think Ah'm done." _She said._

_I grunted at the news and sat up. She moved with me so that she sat in my lap, but I quickly rolled us over with her beneath me. The human tried to struggle back to the surface of my mind, but I kept him shoved down as I pressed my hands against her shoulders. I'd put this off long enough, and I had to make sure my mate really was okay. I brushed down her arms, so thin in comparison to mine, small enough that my fingers could touch each other around most of her forearm and wrist. She didn't seem to mind that I gripped her wrists and kept her hands pinned down, and stayed just as still as she had before. I reluctantly let go of her wrists to run my hands back up her arms, over her shoulders and slender neck, then cupped her jaw. I tilted her head to the side to check how bad the bruise on her face was. It was already darkening into a nasty color._

"She hurt you."

_My little mate only shrugged and tried to look tough. _"Nothing Ah can't handle."

_She looked tiny and fragile, her entire face fitting in between my hands. The dark bruise looked so wrong against her perfect white skin, marking what that she-bitch had done to MY mate._

"I'll rip her lungs out." _I growled._

_But she shook her head. _"No!"

"No?" _I repeated._

"She got what was coming to her, and we're done now." _She said._

_I glared down at her. _"She tried to shoot you."

"It wasn't exactly uncalled for...Ah broke a barstool over her head." _She said, biting her lip and looking up at me nervously._

_Her admission caught me off guard, and I blinked at her. I hadn't seen her do that, although I wish I had. That didn't change anything though. Anyone who hurt my mate would die._

"She hurt you." _I said again._

"An' Ah hurt her back. So let's jus' call it even an' get outta here." _She pouted with her wide doe eyes. _"Please, Wolvie?"'

_Shit. I'd consider it. Right now I just had to make sure she was okay and get us out of here before angry humans showed up, so there wasn't much I could do about it anyway. I went back to my inspection and brushed over her collar bones, down to her chest. She was so soft, where I was all metal and muscle. But I kept going, sweeping down until she squirmed slightly when I reached her sides. I checked her bruised one more carefully, but nothing felt broken. She would be sore for a week or so, but she would heal. I swept my hands across her stomach, over her hips, and down to her legs next. She winced slightly when I skimmed over her knees, which were probably scraped up, but her calves were fine. I still wanted to strip her down, I always did, but I'd wasted too much time letting her take out the lead. I'd just have to settle for my blood on her hands as a scent mark._

_I helped her up when I stood and muttered, _"Stayed here too long. Hurry and get your shit."

_She threw her stuff in her bag, and I gathered up the human's stuff. Just a few clothes and the pillow our mate had gotten us. I looked over the room one last time and nodded at her when she came out of the bathroom. She followed me out to the truck, and we both got in and threw our bags in the back. I started the truck and pulled back onto the streets. I remembered more of how the humans' traveling system worked and the layout of the area we were in, and I took the less used roads out of the settlement. My mate wiped my blood off her hands with soft scraps of paper and put her gloves back on. I grabbed her arm and yanked her over onto my lap._

"Um...Wolvie?" _My mate questioned, although she didn't struggle or try to pull away._

_I let her sit sideways in my lap and lean her back against the door. She sat mostly on my thigh, and I kept on hand on the wheel and the other curled around her stomach. _

"Ah'm sure this isn't legal. Yah don't even have yeh seatbelt on." _She said._

_I rubbed her good side. _"Don't worry, kit. My arm's stronger than the seatbelt. I'll keep you safe if someone hits us."

"Not if yeh flying out the window yah won't." _She replied._

_She took the belt and pulled it between us, locking it into place in a little plastic piece beside my hip. It was annoying, but it didn't get in my way too much and it made her feel safer, so I let her do it. I pulled her back into place when she was done, and she placed a hand on my side._

"Are yah okay?" _She asked._

"I'm fine."

"Bullshit."

_I looked down at her with raised eyebrows, and she stared back._

"Yah can tell me yeh mad or scared or happy, but don't tell meh yeh fine. No one is ever 'fine.'" _She said._

"Ya could've...died...back there." _My chest hurt worse thinking about it._ "I just want you close for a while. That alright?"

_I kept my eyes on the road and gripped the wheel harder while I waited for her response. I saw her nod out of the bottom of my peripheral, and she wrapped her arms around my neck to hug me. She squeezed me briefly, then rubbed her hand over my arm until I relaxed a little. But she still had some questions to answer about the fight she got in._

"Ya wanna tell me why ya didn't call fer help." _My voice came out rough, and she winced._

"Sorry. Ah jus' didn't really have a chance to. Ah didn't even see her coming. One second Ah was sitting on my chair, an' the next, Ah was on the ground, an' she was trying to kick meh. Ah yanked her leg out from under her and when we were getting up, Ah told her to back off. Ah kinda jus' thought..." _She paused and half-mumbled the last part. _"...if she had a few seconds to think about how stupid it all was..."

"Humans are worthless and pathetic."

I'm sure she really appreciates that.

_I tuned the human's voice out and rubbed her side._ "Except you. You're mine."

_She nodded and kept explaining. _"Ah looked for yah rah-ght after Ah hit her with the barstool, but by the time Ah saw yah, she already had the gun an'—"

_I couldn't hold in a snarl at the memory of my Marie-mate almost getting shot. She turned her face up and rubbed her cheek against my neck to appease me, and I calmed a little._

"Yah saved meh."

_If I didn't have such good hearing, I would have missed it. I thought I had misunderstood her anyway, and I grunted out a, _"Huh?"

"In mah head. Ah didn't know what the sound was, but yah did, an' yah told meh to get down." _She explained._

"So you just dropped like that because I...?" _I stopped and let her finish it just to be sure._

_She shrugged. _"Well, yah told meh to."

_Satisfaction shot through me, and I pushed her head back up against my neck as I purred out my pleasure. My good little mate, following orders. It felt really fucking good to know she trusted me enough to hit the floor like that, no hesitation or questions. It probably saved her life, too._

"Good girl, kitling." _I growled._

_She burrowed her head deeper into the crook of my neck, and I could feel the shy smile on her lips against my skin. She smelled happy and proud, pleased that her Alpha had approved. I was just as pleased at her reaction. Her feisty nature made her impulsive sometimes, and she was still learning how to properly behave, but she was a fast learner and instinctively responded to me. I had never given any thought to the "higher power" humans blabbed about, but I was grateful she was my mate, out of everyone else in the world. The human and I had obviously gotten very lucky._

_But there was still the issue of the knife. _"I gotta ask though, kit. Why didn't you use your knife? That situation is why Logan told you to carry it on you."

"Honestly...Ah jus' didn't think about it. Yah wanted me to use it Ah guess or...attack her...somehow...once I'd pulled her down. But Ah didn't know how, an' Ah didn't really want to hurt her. Ah only hit her with the stool because Ah wanted her away from meh, not because Ah was trying to hurt her." _She said, thankfully not getting upset or crying. The human made her cry all the fucking time._

She's emotional.

Yer an asshole.

_The human didn't have a reply to that, so I thought over what she said. I didn't think she had it in her to stab someone, and I was right. Her safety came first, and I wanted her to be comfortable defending herself, but I didn't want to ruin her innocence just yet. She was still a kitling, and she should be worrying about the learning stuff the human got her, not stabbing people. Still, her safety came first. Shit._

"Next time you're in trouble, any kind at all, you yell for us." _I compromised._

_I had no fucking problem stabbing humans, and I would gladly do all the fighting for her. The only blood I wanted on her hands was mine from fixing me up. She nodded, but I kept going to make myself clear._

"Not when you think you have a chance. If someone attacks you, just start screaming."

"Ah will. Promise." _She said._ "But...can Ah ask yah something?"

"Sure, kit."

"Will yah teach meh how to fight?" _She asked._

NO!

Dammit, she—

I won't let you fucking touch her!

She's MY mate, too!

_We wrestled for control, and I won, but just barely. I only kept the truck on the road through muscle memory, and I'd have to pull over soon if the human kept struggling. I'd won for now, but he'd get back in control soon, and if he really concentrated on keeping me locked up, it might be months before I could slip out again. And I couldn't be away from my mate for that long, she was my mate too, and he had no goddamn right to keep me from her._

"Can't."

_I hated that it wasn't even my decision to make. I could slip free every now and then, but the human ultimately had control, and I was forced to practically beg for scraps. Little snatches of time with my mate after matches and the few times his bloodlust got high enough that I could take over. The adrenaline from getting shot, having the pieces pulled out, and generally worrying over our mate's near death experience was already running low, and I didn't have much time with her even now. We couldn't risk her getting hurt at a bar again while we were locked in a cage, so even I would agree she needed to stay at our chosen nesting ground while we fought. But that would take away even those brief moments I had with her._

_She touched my cheek, rubbing a thumb over my stubble. _"Yah jus' leave Logan to meh."

"He—"

"—needs to pull his head out of his ass." _She declared with an angry glint in her eye._

_The human started struggling again, pissed at that comment. He got just enough control to glare down at her, but she only glared back and waited it out until I shoved him back down._

"Yah would never hurt me." _She continued, talking right over my growled protests._ "Are yah gonna lose control and hit me for real? Is all hundred pounds really gonna scare yah that bad?"

_Fuck no. I would never actually hit her, and there's no way she could ever challenge me enough to make me lose control like that. Even if she pissed me off, all I would do is pin her down until she stopped being all hormonal._

_She kept going a bit more softly when I didn't answer. _"Ah'm not asking yah to spar with meh or something. Ah jus' want yah to show meh the basics, like how to punch or disarm someone. We don't actually have to fight at all."

Don't trust you. If anyone shows her that, it'll be me!

Ya selfish motherfucker!

...I ain't trying to take her away from you, but not that. You aren't doing that.

"Logan could show you that." _I finally said in a strained voice. Fucking compromising and begging for table scraps._

"Ah'm not asking him." _She said, shaking her head._ "Ah wanna spend time with yah too."

_Her words burned through me. If she wanted me, she would damn well have me, the human be damned!_

No!

Go fuck yourself. Our mate said she wanted _me_. Not you.

_I pushed the human's voice down hard and held on tight to my mate. He wouldn't be down for long, and I'd just majorly pissed him off, so I would have to trust that my Marie-mate really could convince him, otherwise we wouldn't be seeing each other for a long while._

"...alright, kitling."

_She hugged me again, and I breathed in her scent, savoring it while I still could. The human was already attempting to take his body back though, so I gave her hair a quick nuzzle._

"I gotta go, kit." _I muttered._

_She nuzzled against my neck in return. _"Mmkay. Love yah."

_I tensed up. _"Logan ain't here yet."

"Ah know. Ah said Ah love _you_." _She repeated, looking up at me with sincere eyes._

_I had to pull over then. I couldn't concentrate on the road, could barely even breathe. Her words echoed in my mind, loud enough to drown out even the human. She'd said it to him, and the dumbass had nearly fucked it up, but she hadn't said it to me. I pushed her down to lay back against the seat, trying to be gentle, but my hands were shaking. No one said that to me. She laid back without resistance, and pulled me closer when I lay over her. My face immediately found her neck, and I nipped at the mark I'd given her just before the fight. No one even liked me, not any farther than my claws and my cock. She tilted her head to the side in submission and ran her hands over my back. It felt even better than at the nesting ground. No pain in my chest to distract me from the feeling of her. She felt so warm and soft, and smelled like sunshine and green apples, and she loved me, she loved me, she loved me._

"Love ya too, Marie." _I finally choked out._

_I had to give up and let the human take over then, but I almost didn't even care. My mate said she fucking loved me. Not the human, ME. That was my last smug thought before the human pushed me back into the corner of our mind._

* * *

The last thing I remembered clearly was grinning at Marie from the cage. Flashes of the fight, not hearing her scream, a gun pointed at her, pain pain pain. I sucked in a gasp of air, and her scent hit me, followed by the feeling of her body beneath my bare chest. I pushed myself up and looked her over, searching desperately for blood or bruises. The left side of her face was a mess, with a huge bruise across her cheek.

_The fuck did you do?!_

The Wolverine snarled back at me and refused to answer. More flashes of memory, Marie straddling us, more pain, her sitting in our lap and glaring at me.

"Are you okay?" I demanded.

"Ah'm a little sore, an' mah side hurts, but nothing serious."

I ran my hands over her sides before she even finished with her reply. She winced when I pressed against her left one, but nothing felt broken. She would be alright.

"Do yah remember that Ah was in a fight? The bar fly who came up to us earlier, she did this." She said.

I felt a sick wave of guilt. I knew damn well that bitch had only attacked my Marie out of spite and jealousy, and it made me feel like shit to know she'd gotten hurt over some floozy I'd fucked once.

"Just her?" I asked, watching her carefully. If I found out that bastard had...shit, I couldn't even think about it.

"Yes, Logan." She snapped with a scowl. "All Wolverine did was take me back to the motel and then get us out of town."

"What happened to that calendar bitch? I'll—"

"_Ah_ already took care of it." She interrupted.

My Marie huddled on the ground in front of the bar, shoving through the crowd to get to her, pain pain pain, her holding the bitch by the hair and shooting me a triumphant snarl.

"Ah tackled her, hit her in the stomach with the gun, and smashed her face against the counter three or four times. Ah don't really remember, but she wasn't moving when Ah was done." Marie said.

Don't hurt my friend.

"The fuck you do that for?!" I growled.

She should have yelled sooner, she never should have had to fight on her own. She could have gotten hurt—she _had _gotten hurt. It was my job to protect her, but I'd just fucked things up again.

"She shot yah! But it's okay. Ah got all the lead out, we're out of town, an' we're both alrah-ght, so let's jus' move on, okay?" Marie asked with a hopeful look.

She was still laying beneath me, and I leaned back down to gently nuzzle at the mark the Wolverine had left on her neck. She wrapped her arms around me, and I just held on to her for a bit. More memories came back though, a few moments of near clarity as the Wolverine's hold had wavered. I frowned and concentrated harder. We had been fighting about something. It had been really important. I didn't trust him, and I thought Marie would get hurt...

I pushed back up and glared down at her when I remembered. "Did you ask him to teach you to fight?"

"Yes, Ah—"

"No."

I sat up completely, moving back over to the driver's side, and Marie sat up next to me.

"Ah'm not asking for him to fight with me, Ah'm asking him to teach me to defend mahself." She said.

I clenched and unclenched my jaw. "I can do that."

"Ah want him."

_ME! Our doesn't want ya, she wants me!_

I flinched.

"Ah know yah aren't gonna let meh go with yah to fights anymo—"

"Damn straight." I snarled.

"...Ah jus' wanna spend time with him too." She continued.

He forced memories of her asking to be taught how to punch and disarm someone. Even he wasn't entirely sure what had happened between her and the whore with the gun. I wanted so goddamn badly to be able to protect her all the time, from everything, but I couldn't always be literally at her side. If someone ever did pull a gun on her again, I wanted her to be able to at least disarm them and keep from getting shot until I could get to her.

_She's my mate too, ya can't keep her from me, ya jest fuckin' **can't**!_

I still hated that she'd asked for him and not me, but she was damn right about not getting to see him fight anymore. She needed to know how to defend herself, and I wouldn't be taking her back to any bars until she could. And up at the cabin I planned on taking her to would be the perfect place for us to have lots of warm, open space outdoors...goddammit.

"...fine." I admitted defeat with a mutter.

Marie made a high pitched noise of joy and threw herself back into my lap. I caught her and pulled her close, enjoying the hug at least.

She pulled back a bit after several moments. "But listen. There's something Ah should tell yah."

I swallowed hard and braced myself for whatever it was. Had he hurt her after all, did she have more injuries, was she mad at me about the whore?

"Ah get lonely sometimes." She said instead.

That wasn't what I expected at all, but I guess it was better. If she wanted some new toy or more online classes, I could just buy her that.

"Your school stuff and gameplay not keeping you busy?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Not bored. Lonely. Ah wanted to go with yah to the fights so badly 'cause Ah jus'...wanted to do something with yah."

"We were gonna see a movie." I reminded her.

"Ah want to do something with yah outside of a hotel or this truck." She said, looking at me like I was missing something.

I must have been missing something, because I didn't get it.

"Like when yah took meh to see Canada's largest maple leaf an' let meh take pictures. Yah didn't even have to do anything, Ah jus' liked going someplace with yah. Ah jus'..." She paused and looked down at my chest. "...wanna spend time with yah."

"Thought you said you wanted to spend time with him." I tried not to sound too bitter about it, but the last word came out as a snarl.

"Ah want to spend time with both of yah." She insisted.

Well, if she wanted to go do something, then maybe she'd be happy about what I had planned for her.

"The July thing is a big American holiday, right?" I asked.

She stared blankly at me for a second. "Uhm...you mean the fourth of July?"

"Yeah, the one with the fireworks?"

"Uh huh."

"If you want to do something, I've been thinking about taking you back to the states, somewhere South and staying in a cabin in the woods where—"

Her scent suddenly filled with fear and panic, and I immediately shut up and touched her hair.

"Kid, you okay?"

She didn't say anything, but she didn't pull away either, so I used it to cup her cheek. Her eyes were wide and she trembled slightly.

"Yeah, Ah..." Her voice trailed off.

I rubbed my thumb over her cheek in short brushes. I could feel a slight tingling, but I made sure to pull away before the pain started. My thumb went a little numb, but the tingling lessened until it finally disappeared completely, and she turned her head against my hand without fear.

"What's wrong?" I whispered.

She tilted her head down and stared at her hands.

"Marie."

"Ah..." She almost looked up, but she tipped her head back down at the last second. "...it's stupid."

I growled, and she lifted her head with a sigh.

"For a second...Ah thought...yahweregonnatakemeback."

"Slower, kid." I ordered.

"Yah were gonna...take me back."

My chest tightened. "And what? Leave you there?"

She nodded shakily, and I pulled her back against me and cupped her head. Her nose rubbed against my shoulder and then up my neck while I petted her hair until she calmed down.

"That won't ever happen." I promised.

She gave another short nod.

"But if you still want to go on the trip...?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then. I know a guy in Arkansas who owes me. I was thinking we could stay for a week or two in a cabin he owns by this lake, maybe go hiking, set off some fireworks..." I looked down at her. "Any of that sound good?"

"Really?!" She bounced up in my lap. "Logan, that sounds great!"

I grinned at her. Crisis averted, and she hadn't even cried. "It'll take us a few days to get there, but we should make it a day or two before the fourth if we start now."

"Thank yah!" She shouted, hugging me again.

I let her hug me, then tipped her head back up. "He can show you some of the basics there."

"Tha—"

I didn't wait for her to finish. "But if _anything_ happens...It's over. Understand?"

"Yes, understood." She immediately promised.

_Understand?_

_...yeah._

The Wolverine retreated back to his corner and we went back to ignoring each other. I rolled my shoulders and forced myself to relax my muscles to ease some of the tension. Marie was still grinning widely, and I smiled back.

"Then let's get going, kid."

* * *

**A/N: Look at how fucking long this chapter is! It's the second longest I've ever written for this fic. And oh my god, Wolverine. Poor, poor Wolvie. In so much pain, and yet he still let Marie sit on his crotch, take his belt off, and press her boobs into his face. He was just willing to make that sacrifice.**

**But seriously though, I could barely even write that scene I was laughing too hard. I could just imagine his face when he says he's hurt real bad, looking all pained and tortured. And innocent little Marie believing him! This is definitely one of my favorite chapters.**

**Quick question though. How do you like the transition between Logan and Wolverine? Is it really annoying reading everything in italics and the dialogue in print or do you think it's fine? Also, if you're interested in the tally of how the votes turned out, here it is: Wolverine got 17 votes and Logan got 10.**

**Edit: In the last chapter, Marie said, "The difference between yah and meh? He keeps his boots on when he's with meh." It should have been, "He takes his boots OFF" I completely messed that up, and helikesthemikey pointed that out to me. I went back and fixed it, but that was totally my bad. Sorry if anyone else was horribly confused by that!**

**Coming up next: Logan and Marie head down to Arkansas for some Fourth of July camping. Logan realizes he's not in Kansas anymore when the locals all assume Marie is his girlfriend (not his daughter), the Wolverine wants out to do a little "hunting," and he catches Marie skinny dipping!**

**LE GASP!**


	22. AN by Logan

Listen up, you little shits. I'm subbing in for your regular writer, Morgan, because she thinks her life is real fucking hard. Always bitching about college and work and how hard it is to be a "writer." I don't see what's so fucking hard about it. I tell her about what went down between me and Marie to "learn to express my feelings" and shit, and all she has to do is write it down. Hell, I'm even writing this little author's note for her, and it ain't that hard at all. She isn't writing it 'cause she's stone cold asleep. Learned how to ride a bike this week and thought her out of shape ass could bike three miles around campus. Stupid little thing didn't even know how to stop, just kinda threw herself on the ground whenever she got going too fast. Her bike is just about as tall as she is too, so she has to stand on her tip toes to sit on it. Must have crotch punted herself at least eight or nine times too, funniest fucking thing I've ever seen. But I'm not supposed to talk about that.

The announcement I'm supposed to be making is that the next chapter won't be up until Monday, and from now on, The Bad Habit and The Big Bad Wolf—she thinks she's so fucking clever with the titles—will only be updating once a week on Mondays. She says she's sorry and please don't be mad, blah blah blah, chick stuff. She also promises the next chapter is even longer than the last one she posted. I'm pretty sure that's the one about that Fourth of July Marie and I had in the states. Caught her sweet ass skinny dipping on that one. I was real fucking pissed about her wandering around in the woods naked back then, but I guess it is pretty funny she got her clothes stolen by raccoons. She's just damn lucky I found her and—

*Morgan screams distantly from the background at me to wrap it up.*

Alright, fine. Shit. Put some more ice on your crotch and go back to sleep. Fuck, where was I? Right, only updating on Mondays now because this lazy ass college student thinks her life is hard. Kids these days have no fucking idea what hard is. They're too busy with their facetube and youbook and that stupid tumbling website. And what about you pervy little fuckers? Getting all worked up over someone else's life. Get a job! Get a girlfriend! ...or a boyfriend or however it is kids have sex these days.

Use a condom.


	23. Fireworks, Barbeque, and Pie

**JULY**

I sat on the bed and drank my coffee while Marie flittered around the room, packing up the last of our stuff. I'd estimated that we could get to Arkansas a day or two before the fourth, but I'd forgotten that I drove slower now. I could go up to three days without sleep, not exactly easy, but I could still function and do automatic tasks, like eat and drive. Marie just wasn't made for that sort of pace the way I was, so it was taking nearly twice as long. I didn't mind, since it looked like we would make it in time, but it would be cutting it close. And now I had to decide how hard I wanted to push to get us there.

"Kid."

Marie stopped rearranging her backpack. "Yeah?"

"You wanna help me make a decision?" I asked.

Her face lit up. "Sure!"

"C'mere."

She quit messing with her stuff and bounced over to the bed. I had hazy memories of driving with her in my lap, and I wanted to hold her like that now, but that was still against The Rules. I'd gotten a little too lax about them, especially with the Wolverine getting out left and right. She hopped up on the bed and folded her legs underneath her to sit beside me, and I didn't make any move to pull her closer.

"We can drive all day and through the night, and get there early tomorrow morning. We'd have the rest of the day to sleep at the cabin, and then be ready for the fireworks at night."

She nodded her understanding, and I took another long drink of coffee.

"Or we can stop at another motel tonight, drive all day tomorrow, and get there tomorrow evening. We wouldn't have much time to rest after driving all day though." I said.

Marie thought about it for a moment while I drained the rest of my cup.

"The second one." She decided. "I don't mind driving during the day, but driving through the night always makes me really tired and cranky. I'd rather have a good rest tonight and just get there a little later tomorrow."

I tossed the cup in the trash. "Alright then, kid. Let's get a move on."

She stopped me from getting up. "Thanks for asking me."

"Sure." I muttered.

She smiled and hugged me quickly, then jumped off the bed. I'd been trying to tell her more stuff lately, instead of just making decisions. And I had to admit, it was kind of nice to have someone to talk to after fifteen years of it being just me and the animal in my head.

xxx

"Wake up, kid."

Marie lifted her head and looked around. She'd fallen asleep leaning against her door instead of my lap this time, and I'd let her doze since we were going to stay up late tonight.

"We here?" She asked, peering out the window.

"Nah, but close."

I pulled into the parking lot of a corner convenience store that also sold groceries. It was the only one for a couple of miles, and it was pretty close to the cabin.

"Gotta pick up some groceries." I said.

I got out of the truck, opened Marie's door for her, and we walked inside. There were only a couple other people inside other than the cashier, but I still kept Marie close with an arm slung around her shoulders. She grabbed two hand baskets, and I held one of them for her in my spare hand.

"How long are we staying?" She asked.

"Nate gave us the cabin for the week."

"Does it have a stove?"

I shrugged. "Yeah."

"Then Ah can cook for yah!" Marie said, looking over the aisles eagerly.

"That something you want to do?" I asked. "'Cause I can make my own—"

"TV dinners don't count." She cut me off.

I scowled. "I can barbeque too."

"Could yah do that tonight, since we'll be outside watching the fire works?" She asked.

"Yeah kid, I can do that."

"Great! An' Ah can cook real food for yah. Yah'll love it, Ah promise!" She said, flashing me a grin.

She hadn't seemed so eager to cook back when we stayed with Lori, but that could have been because of the brats running around. Maybe she was more excited now because it was just the two of us. And she really did look like she was looking forward to cooking me supper, so I sure as fuck wasn't going to argue past that.

"Whatcha gonna make?" I asked, leaning over her shoulder to look at what she had in her hands.

She tossed two cans into her basket. "Pigs in a blanket, macaroni, and baked beans for tomorrow night. Some sandwich stuff for lunch. That sound good to yah?"

My stomach growled just thinking about it. "Fuck yeah."

She turned around and smiled at me. "Could yah pick up the barbeque stuff while Ah get the stuff for that?"

I was still a little twitchy about letting her out of my sight, but the store was small enough that I could get to her in seconds no matter where she went, so I nodded. She walked off, swinging her basket, and I went over to the frozen meats section. I grabbed a few steaks and some hamburger meat. I went ahead and picked up a pack of hotdogs too, because I was pretty sure that was the "pig" part of "pigs in a blanket." Nate had said there was already charcoal for the grill at his cabin, so I just got some hamburger buns and looked for Marie again. I found her a couple of aisles over and took a moment to just look at her.

She stood in front of a shelf of fresh tomatoes, picking them up one at a time and examining them. Her bottom lip was caught beneath her teeth as she bit it while she tried to decide. She finally released her lip and placed the tomato in her basket. It was a bit swollen now. I wanted to lick it and suck it into my mouth, then bite it again until it was red and puffy. Until her eyes were glazed over with want and her hair was messed up from being wrapped around my fist. I wanted her walking around the grocery store with that just fucked look so everyone would know she was taken. The Wolverine was all over that plan, and I tightened my fist until my nails dug into my palm to try to push down those thoughts.

"Logan?"

She stood in front of me, hesitantly pressing her fingers against my chest. I opened my fist and took her hand, holding the entire thing inside my fist. She was just so fucking tiny.

"Got everything you need?" I asked.

She paused for a second, but decided to answer. "Ah jus' need hotdogs for the—"

I held up my basket so she could see the hotdogs sitting in it and gave her a slight smile. She grinned back and looked over her basket one more time. We could make trips back here to get groceries as we needed them, instead of trying to buy everything at once.

"Thanks. That's it then, Ah think." She said.

"Alright."

I let go of her hand and slipped my arm around her waist instead. She asked a couple of questions about the cabin on the way up to the register and while we waited in line, like how close to the water it was, if it had electricity, a TV, a fireplace. She got really excited about the fireplace when I said yes, and I was looking forward to curling up with her in front of it myself.

"Are y'all staying down bah the lake?" The cashier asked when we stepped up to the counter.

I grunted at him and helped Marie put the rest of the food on the counter for him to check out. His eyes flickered down to her gloves, but I caught his eye next with a glare, and he snapped his mouth back shut about them. She only put them on when we went out in public, but the store wasn't very well air conditioned, and her hands had to be hot. I glanced her over one more time. Her jeans and long sleeved were probably hot too. They'd been fine up in Canada, but it was nearing triple digits down here.

"There a store around here that sells clothes?" I asked.

"Rah-ght down the road, there's an outdoor gear shop. Mah-ght be something there if yah lucky." He drawled. "Where y'all from?"

"Ah'm from Mississippi, he's from Canada." Marie answered.

"Yah glad to be back South?"

"Well Ah don't miss the heat." She replied.

He laughed, and she offered a polite smile. The bell on the door jingled, and I slung my arm back around her shoulders. She bent over slightly to check out the racks of candy going up the side of the counter, and I looked over to scope out who had come inside. A real big guy, with a big stomach to match. He wore camouflage and probably had a name like Bubba or Jebediah. He looked Marie over, then made eye contact with me. He grinned and winked before he moved on. I pulled her a little closer.

"That'll be fivety-six oh four." The cashier said.

I pulled out my cash and tossed three twenties on the counter. He took them without comment on the blood splatters. Marie peeled back the wrapper. Her candy bar was already half melted and some of the chocolate got on her fingers. She licked it off, swirling her tongue around her finger and taking it into her mouth. I almost started panting when she gave it a hard suck and moved on to the next finger.

The cashier coughed, and my eyes snapped back up to his. He was obviously trying very hard to look at my face instead of hers while he held out my change.

"Keep it."

I grabbed our bags and steered Marie away from the counter. She was welcome to continue sucking her fingers and generally being a cock tease, but she would damn well do it in my truck where I was the only one who could see.

"Thank yah, sir. Have fun on yeh honeymoon!" The cashier called after us.

I nearly tripped on my own feet. Marie tugged on my arm and pulled me out of the store while I was still trying to process that. On our _what_?!

"What the fuck?!" I muttered as we walked back to my truck.

"That's probably what a lot of those cabins are used for." Marie said with a blush.

At least she'd forgotten about her goddamn candy bar for the moment.

I shook my head. "You're fourteen!"

"Almost fifteen."

I stared at her, and she shrugged.

"And sixteen is the age of consent here. It's not...uncommon. He probably thought Ah was pregnant or something." She said.

"Pregnant?!"

"It happens. My friend Heather ran away with the music teacher in eighth grade." She said like it wasn't any big deal.

I opened her door for her. "Fucking Americans."

She climbed inside and stuck her tongue out at me. I swallowed hard and shut her door. I was a dirty fucking hypocrite, but at least I wasn't stupid enough to knock up a kid.

_Bet she'd look real fuckin' good, belly all swollen with our cub._

_Shut the fuck up, we are NOT getting her pregnant!_

I shoved the Wolverine's voice back down, along with any thoughts of pregnancy, and got in the truck. I got back on the road and tried to stay focused on driving, but Marie had started eating her candy bar again. She had chocolate smeared across her lips, and every now and then she'd get it on her fingers again and lick it off. She finally finished it by the time we reached the sporting goods shop, except she still had some chocolate just below her bottom lip. The only thing that stopped me from leaning over and licking it off of her was how much I hated chocolate. I just motioned at her that she had some stuff on her lip and got out of the truck before I snapped.

The store had a small clothing section, all of it practical outdoor wear. I got her some tank tops and shorts that came down to her knees. They'd protect her thighs and keep me from going insane. I'd probably lose my shit if I saw her walking around in daisy dukes. I grabbed some bug repellant and sunscreen too, as a last minute afterthought to Marie's fair skin. We got in and out of that store fairly quickly, just as the sun started to set. I'd seen a roadside fireworks stand on the way over to the store, and it was on our way back to the cabin, so I pulled over beside it. Marie hopped out of the truck, and I slammed her door shut behind her.

"What kind of fireworks can we get?" She asked.

"Whatever you want, kid."

We walked up to the stand, where an older woman leaned against the counter and idly fanned herself in between drags of her cigarette. We were downwind of the stand, and I caught the scent of two other males aside from the smoke. I couldn't see anyone else though, so they were probably behind the stand.

"Welcome to Ill Eagle fireworks! What can Ah get y'all?" The woman behind the stand said.

I raised an eyebrow. "Ill Eagle?"

"Yep!" She pointed proudly to the banner hanging over the stand that had a crudely drawn picture of a coughing eagle.

"Yah should set up a charity fund." Marie said.

We both looked over at her.

"Since they're sick and all. Bald eagles are endangered, yah know." She continued.

I coughed and shuffled my feet while I tried to work out a way to explain it to her, and the woman gave her a pitying stare. Marie stood there and looked obliviously innocent for a few more seconds before breaking into a wide grin and snorting loudly.

"Seriously though. Yah could get some pictures of little baby eagles an' tell some sob story to the tourists. Get lots of donations for those poor sick eagles." She said, snickering again when she was done.

"Child, yah had me worried for a second. Yah better watch little miss big eyes, here." The woman said, grinning at me.

"Who?" Marie looked around dramatically. "Meh?"

I ruffled her hair, deliberately messing it up, and she pouted at me. "Just get your damn fireworks, kid."

That cheered her up, and she turned back to the woman. "So whatcha got?"

They talked about different kinds of fireworks for another twenty minutes or so, and Marie wanted to see everything. The stand at least provided some shade though, so I leaned against the side and waited while she got what she wanted picked out.

"Okay then, we'll get what yah wanted packed up nice and safe for yah." The woman gave me a look. "Be sure to set these off at a safe distance, yah hear?"

I nodded and fought to hold back a wince when she gave an ear splitting whistle.

"Wake yeh asses up! Yah got shit to carry!" She shouted.

Two boys barely out of their teens stumbled out from behind the stand, yawning and scratching their bellies. The older one noticed Marie first and nudged his brother. I put my arm around her and pulled her close despite the heat.

"Put yah dicks back in yeh pants an' get yeh asses in gear! That ain't no way to look at a lady!" She barked at them.

The younger one blushed and the older grumbled, but they put their heads down and went to work picking out fireworks from the list the woman had made.

She turned back to me. "Don't mind mah sons. Their daddy was some no good trucker who was out the door before his dick dried, an' the only one left to raise them was meh."

"And she's meaner than a bulldog an' older than Gawd." The older one grumbled.

She whipped around and glared at him. "Boy, yah got something to say to meh, yah better pull yeh damn pants up an' say it to mah face!"

He straightened up with a scowl. "Ma, Ah am twent—"

"Yah mah baby, an' if yah don't behave, Ah will bend yah over this stand and whup the Y chromosome straight outta yah!" She snapped.

His scowl got even worse, but he went back to loading our fireworks in boxes with a mumbled yes ma'am.

"You look like you're doing a fine job, ma'am." I told her with a grin.

She fluffed her oversized hair and adjusted her cleavage. "Thank yah."

"Here." Marie pushed the notepad she'd been doodling on toward her.

It was a sketch of a nest of baby bald eagles, and it looked pretty damn realistic for being drawn in pen in only a couple of minutes. The woman held it up and cooed over it.

"Aww, well ain't yah just the sweetest thing!"

Marie smiled, but I could see the way she leaned against the counter and the sweat dripping down the back of her neck. She hadn't changed into her new clothes yet, and the heat lingered for hours after the sun set. I nudged her side and held out my keys.

"Go get the air conditioning started in the truck for me." I said.

She nodded gratefully and walked back to the truck. I watched her until she got inside, then turned back to see how much I owed. The woman looked up from the picture and smiled.

"She's a sweet kid...hundred twenty even." She said.

I knew she'd knocked off at least twenty or thirty dollars from the price, but I wasn't going to complain. She raised her eyebrows a little at the six battered and bloodstained twenties I laid down but didn't say anything about it.

"All set." The younger son called.

I nodded to her and picked up the two boxes of fireworks Marie had ordered. I set them in the back of the truck and gave her a brief wave when she called out a goodbye. Marie scooted over from my spot in the driver's seat when I got in.

"So, cabin now?" She asked.

I grinned. "Yeah, kid. Cabin now."

xxx

The cabin overlooked the lake on a steep hill, with a trail leading through the forest down to the shoreside. Another thin trail acted as a "road" to the cabin, and I had to drive slowly to stay on it. Marie didn't seem to mind how steep the hill was, but I threw the truck in park and got out the second we reached the cabin. I felt much better once I had my own feet underneath me and helped Marie out of her side of the truck. She grabbed the groceries, and I grabbed the box of fireworks. I set them on the front porch and entered the four digit code to the alarm on the door. It clicked open, and I held the door open for her as she stepped inside.

She set the groceries down with a gasp. The cabin wasn't very big, but it did have two stories and lots of windows lining the walls. When the sun rose in the morning, the view to the lake would be nice, but it still looked good in the dark with the fireflies drifting around in the twilight. The fireplace sat on the wall to our right, a kitchen in front of us, and the stairs to our left. The master bedroom was in the left hand corner between the kitchen and the stairs, but the closed door blocked our view of it. The stairs led down to the lower story that had a couch, a pool table, a ping pong table, and a spare guest room.

I'd been here off and on for a few years, but that had only been to find a quiet place to get away from people for a while. Nate had joked with me about it some, but this was the first time I'd ever brought anyone else here with me. I felt really good about that now. I didn't want any memories of another woman tainting my time with Marie.

I came up behind her and leaned down. "You like it?"

She turned her head to brush against mine and almost managed to stutter something out a few times before she gave up and turned fully to throw herself against me. I hugged her back and grinned.

"I'll take that as a yes?"

"It's beautiful!" She mumbled.

Damn, my little Marie knew how to make me feel about ten feet tall. Really fucking glad she was the only person I'd ever taken here. I gave her one last squeeze and picked up the groceries. Between the stop for clothes and fireworks, some of the stuff needed to get in the refrigerator pretty soon now. She followed me into the kitchen area and helped me put the food away, still staring wide eyed at everything.

"I'm gonna go start up the grill." I told her when we were done. "Wanna run back to the truck and bring in our stuff?"

"Yeah, sure." She said.

I walked out to the back porch where the grill was set up and hunted around until I found a bag of charcoal. Sitting next to it was a pack of Molson's. Bottles, not cans. I gave a grunt of satisfaction and made a mental note to leave Nate some extra cash. I started up the grill and carried the Molsons back inside, setting them in the fridge to cool. I could hear Marie moving around in the master bedroom, so I went to see if she needed any help carrying stuff in. My duffel bag lay beside her backpack next to the bed, which she was making with sheets she must have found in the closet. My pillow sat on the chair next to the bed. She finished straightening the sheets and turned around to see me leaning against the doorframe.

She smiled at me. "Hey."

"Hey. Need any help?" I asked.

"Ah got everything we'll need for the night. If there's anything else we want to bring in, we can get it tomorrow." She replied, making her way over to me.

I pulled her close and brushed my nose against her hair. "I'll get the fireworks then."

She nodded and waited in the small living room while I ran back out to the front porch where I left the boxes. She was looking over the fireplace when I came back in. We probably wouldn't need to use it tonight, but the weather was supposed to cool off for a bit this week, and it might get cold in the night. She held the backdoor open for me while I carried the boxes out to the back porch. I set them a bit aside from the grill and flipped on the porch lights. The porch had the grill, two lawn chairs, and a small collapsable table set up.

"Are we going to set them off here?" She asked, looking around.

The area around the cabin was pretty clear of trees, but there was still a lot of dry grass and the forest was pretty close. I didn't want to risk repaying Nate by burning down his property.

"Nah. We'll set most of them off at the shoreline, down by the lake." I said.

I checked the temperature on the grill. It would still be a while.

"Ah'll make some hamburger patties. How many do yah want?" She asked.

"Just one or two. You want any steak?"

"Nope."

She went back inside, and I decided to look over the fireworks she'd gotten while I waited. I didn't know much about fireworks, except light the fuse and run. The packages they came in advertised rockets, thunder, and showers. I read over the instructions to figure out which did what. I thought all fireworks just kind of exploded, but apparently some worked as rockets you had to aim and shoot off, some could be held in your hands, and some spun around on the ground. I sorted through them and rearranged them in the boxes the best I could to separate ones that exploded in the air, did stuff on the ground, or were safe to hold. She'd gotten lots of really thin ones called sparklers, so I put them on top.

By the time I finished checking out the fireworks, the grill was hot enough for me to throw the steaks on. I looked up to yell for Marie, but she came outside with a plate of raw patties and the sound died in my throat. She had taken a long time just to make some patties, but maybe she had looked around the cabin some or rearranged the stuff in the kitchen. I put the patties on next to my steak and closed the lid. The type of grill Nate had, keeping the lid shut locked in all the heat and moisture, so the meat cooked well and stayed tender. He tried to sell them to everyone he could, and it really was a high quality grill.

I caught Marie's eye and nodded at the boxes. "I looked through the fireworks. Those ones on top are small enough that it's probably safe to set them off here if we keep an eye on them."

"Great! Do yah have a lighter?" She asked, holding her hand out.

I looked at her and snorted. "Hell no. You are not setting them off."

Her face fell. "What? Why?"

"It's dangerous."

She crossed her arms. "Yah said these are the small ones."

I glared at her, and she glared back until I sighed. I'd rather give in and let her light a few of the smaller ones than piss her off. She'd probably get all stubborn and insist on lighting one of the bigger ones then.

"Fine." I relented. "But you watch me do it first."

She nodded quickly, and I walked over to the box. There were several packages in the "on the ground" section that were labeled spinners, and I grabbed one called "Dancing Butterfly." Whatever the fuck that meant. I walked a safe distance away from the porch and stamped down the grass to clear a small area for it. It was shaped like a can, with a fuse sticking out at the top. I set it in the middle, flicked the lighter open, and lit the fuse. It burned slowly enough that I felt comfortable trotting back to where Marie waited on the porch. I turned around just as it started going off.

A spray of colorful sparks came out, quickly turning into a fountain. Marie oo'ed and aw'ed over it, but I frowned. As pretty as it was, the box promised spinning and shit, not some pansy ass—

The damn thing exploded, sending red and green lights spinning and jumping all over the fucking place. There had to be at least six of them, and they burned bright enough in the relative darkness to hurt my eyes. I grabbed Marie with one arm, threw another arm over my face, and instinctively jumped back. When the spots finally faded from behind my eyelids, I cracked my eyes open to see Marie doubled over in laughter at my side.

"The look...look on yeh...on yeh _face_!" She gasped.

I crossed my arms. "It ain't funny kid."

She pressed her lips together to smother her giggles. "It's a little bit funny."

"It hurt my eyes!" I argued.

Her lips and eyes softened, and she reached up to brush her fingers along my face. I tried to keep my scowl up, but she smoothed over my forehead, eyebrows, and cheeks. I closed my eyes and let her trace over my eyelids. She stepped closer and slipped her arm beneath mine, running her other hand up and down my back. I leaned against the railing and relaxed while she touched me. She moved her hand over my sides and to my chest, pushing me to sit in the lawn chair next to the grill. I looked up at her and she smiled gently.

"Why don't yah let me set off the rest?"

I sighed again and handed her the lighter with a stern look. "Be careful."

"I will!"

She grabbed it and skipped off the porch. The butterfly-thing hadn't just exploded the instant I lit the fuse, so I figured she'd have plenty of time to get a safe distance away before shit started going off as long as she was careful about it. I flipped the steaks and patties, then kept an eye on her while she set off all different kinds of lights and sparks and shit. She laughed and whooped, clearly enjoying herself, and I tried to ignore the loud noises, bright lights, and smell of cheap smoke. I put up with it until she set off something that made a horrible shrieking noise that left me growling and covering my ears. Marie ran over and crawled into my lap when it was over, looking worriedly at me.

"No more of that shit." I growled.

She nodded and mumbled out an apology. I took advantage of the moment to get a hug out of her, enjoying the way she fit against me. I forced myself to let go of her after a few moments though, and she ran back to her fireworks. She didn't mess with whatever those fuckers had been any more, and the meat smelled pretty done. I popped the lid and gave a low growl of appreciation this time.

"Food's done!" I called.

Marie was running around the small clearing with one of those sparkler things, spinning around and leaving a thin trail of light behind her. She looked beautiful with just the dim porch light and sparks lighting up the grin on her face. She'd kicked off her shoes at some point and was dancing in the grass with her bare feet. I looked her over and had to choke back another growl.

_Our mate._ The Wolverine purred in appreciation.

He'd get his time with her, but right now she was mine, so I pushed him back down. She ran up to the porch, still holding the sparkler and panting slightly. The sparkler fizzed out, and I brushed a wild strand of hair out of her face. She giggled.

"Food's done." I repeated, just to have something to say.

"Okay. Ah'll get the hamburger stuff." She said.

She tossed the sparkler in the pile of burnt out fireworks she'd built up on the porch and went inside. I took the steaks and patties off the grill and piled them on the plate she'd brought out earlier. Marie came out with the rest of the food, two plates, and a cold Molson's. I took the Molson's and helped her set out all the toppings and condiments. I put the steaks on my plate and made myself two hamburgers, even putting lettuce and tomatoes on them since she always bitched about me needing vegetables. She smiled at me for the effort and coated her burger with mayo. I tried to keep the sneer of disgust off my face, but she caught it and laughed.

"Mayonnaise is practically a food group down South." She said, adding ketchup to the mix.

"Whatever you say, kid." I nodded and looked away before I lost my appetite.

We ate on the porch in comfortable silence. The forest around us wasn't quiet by any means, with cicadas creating a constant drone, but it was a fuck ton better than the sound of cars or other people. I was outdoors, eating red meat, with my mate...hell, I even had an ice cold Molson's. I thought it couldn't get any fucking better than this, until Marie went back inside without explanation. I gave her a minute, then got up to go after her, but she walked out holding a pie. I sat back down and stared.

"Now Ah know apple pie is supposed to be _the_ American pie, but my mama always made pecan. So Ah hope yah don't mind." She said, setting it on the folding table in front of me.

She straightened back up and looked at me nervously, biting her lip. I opened my mouth to say something, then had to clear my throat.

"Fuck." I tried to think of something else, and came up with, "Yeah, pecan."

"...so yah like pecan pie?" She asked.

I liked any and all kinds of pie. It was pretty much the only dessert I did like. Everything else was either chocolate or sickeningly sweet. And this was especially since it was made by my mate.

"Yeah...yeah, fuck yeah!" I didn't even know what I was saying, I was nodding so fast. My brain was probably getting whiplash.

She grinned. "Great. How big do yah want yeh slice?"

I got her to cut me a slice that was practically a fourth of the whole damn pie, and she popped back into the kitchen and reappeared in front of me with a fresh bottle of Molson's. I mumbled out a thank you and drained half the bottle. She had a much smaller slice with a glass of milk and ate it all while watching me with a smug grin. I didn't say anything about it because it was a damn good pie and she deserved to be proud. We each sat and sipped our drinks when we were done, enjoying the quiet. I could hear the occasional soft boom of other fireworks over the cicadas, but they were distance enough that she probably couldn't hear them.

"Ready to set off the rest of them?" I asked.

"Yep!"

She bounced up, and we took the leftover food and dirty plates back into the kitchen, then went back outside. I grabbed my jacket on the way out and put it on. I didn't need it, but she might, and wearing it was easier than carrying it. She'd used up enough of the fireworks that I just stacked the ones left into the second box and picked that up.

"Hold on to my arm and don't let go. It's dark and steep, so we're going to go slow. Try to step where I do and let me know if you need to stop." I ordered.

She obediently gripped my jacket sleeve and followed me to the trail leading down to the lake. I slowed my pace for her and let her know when any tree branches crossed in front of us or the path dipped suddenly. She stumbled a few times, but got along pretty well. We made it down to the shore without her falling, and she immediately ran to the water's edge to look out over the lake. I set the box down and watched her silhouette, lit only by moonlight. I had to swallow and clear my throat to make it work again.

"Marie!"

She ran back to me at my call and helped me unpack some of the fireworks. We started out with the last of the smaller ground fireworks, which I let her set off, then moved on to the candles. We took turns holding them and shooting them off over the lake until just the big ones were left. I took off my jacket and laid it on the ground for her.

"I got the rest of them. Just lay here and enjoy the show, kid." I said.

She laid down and grinned up happily at me. I jogged back to the box of fireworks and set up a few of the bigger ones, securing their stands in the sand, then went by and lit their fuses one by one. The first one was already exploding by the time I flopped down next to Marie, but she snuggled up to me, and I got to see the next three go off with her. I repeated that, running back and forth between the fireworks and her until the last of them were gone. We laid there for several more minutes, just looking at the stars. She yawned and snuggled closer to my side, but I had to get her back up to the cabin. I decided I'd worry about cleaning up the fireworks in the morning and gathered her up in my arms as I stood. She clung to my jacket, and I let her squirm around against my chest until she had it wrapped back around her.

I carried her back up the hill and got to the cabin in less than half the time it took us to hike down. She didn't stir even when I opened the cabin door, kicked it shut behind me, and carried her into our bedroom. I set her on the bed, and she looked around sleepily.

"Arms up, kid."

She lifted her arms up without complaint, and I peeled her shirt off of her. She flopped back on the bed and lifted up her hips too so I could get her jeans off too. I turned around and practically staggered over to my duffel bag to dig out her pajamas. I threw them at her and retreated into the bathroom with my own sleeping sweats. The image of her sprawled out over the bed in only her underwear was burned into my brain for the rest of eternity, however. I closed the door and took deep breaths until I felt more in control.

After I'd pissed and changed into the sweats, I opened the door and peeked out to be sure she'd actually put the pajamas on. She had, and she was already curled up on the bed. I walked back over to the bed and urged her under the covers, then crawled in next to her. She scooted over to give me room, letting me sleep with one arm slung over her torso and my face resting next to her neck. It was how we'd started sleeping now, since it gave us both some room but still let me keep her close. Between her sweet scent, the food resting in my stomach, and the slight physical exertion of hiking up and down the hill, I was asleep in minutes.

xxx

I rolled over and reached for Marie, snapping my eyes open when I only grabbed bedsheets. Her side was empty, and I couldn't hear her inside the cabin. I sat up and looked around, spotting a piece of white on the nightstand. I grabbed it, recognizing Marie's handwriting on the piece of paper.

_Logan,_

_In case you wake up before I get back, I just went down to the lake. Don't worry._

_~Marie_

Don't worry? Don't fucking worry?! I crumbled the note up in my hand and pulled my boots on. Like hell she thought she could go stomping around in the woods at night all alone. She could have fell on the trail in a thousand different places and broken her neck. What the fuck did she even want at the lake anyway? The Wolverine was just as pissed and snarled out his displeasure in my mind.

_Find our fuckin' mate!_

I slammed the door on my way out and ran down the trail, barely resisting the urge to drop to all fours in my hurry. I skidded to a stop at the bottom of the hill and jogged out along the shore, sweeping my head back and forth and sniffing for her scent. I found it in seconds and followed it a little ways over. It was strongest at a large rock that had raccoon prints and a lone sock laying on it. My mind feverishly worked to find a scenario that would fit this strange situation until I noticed a towel hanging off a tree limb over the rock and heard a splash nearby. I looked over and saw Marie floating in the water, stark ass naked.

The dark water rippled over her skin, pale enough to reflect the moonlight. Her hair floated out in a dark halo around her head and her little breasts thrust up just above the surface. I stood frozen and even the Wolverine was quiet as we gaped at our mate. She flipped over backwards, disappearing beneath the water before her head popped back up, and she pushed her hair back with her hands. She blinked the water out of her eyes and spotted me, jerking in the water in shock. We stared at each other for a long moment.

"I left a note this time." She called.

I snarled. "Get. Out. NOW."

**A/N: So how did you all like the note Logan wrote you? He bitched and moaned about it, but I think he liked the chance to rant about "kids these days." And seriously though, I know the stuff about my crotch might have been too much information, but it's all true. Icepack and everything. And as painful as it was, it's also really funny. So laugh and enjoy my pain and don't be mad about the cutback on updates.**

**The new schedule is simple: TBH and BBW only update on Monday's from now on. But I'm not abandoning this story, and I promise I WILL keep updating!**

**Any ideas/suggesting of what should happen next? Marie's naked, Logan's pissed, and Wolverine hasn't had his allocated Marie time yet...**


	24. Floppy Bread Things

**Quick A/N: Logan's voice is **normal**, Wolverine's narrating voice is **_italics_**, and Wolverine's voice (in his head) is bold.**

* * *

**JULY**

* * *

Marie hesitated, then began to swim back to the shore. Her posture changed as she touched bottom, the water just barely covering her shoulders. She took a step forward and it dropped several dozen centimeters, showing off her collar bones. I should look away. She took another step, and it dropped to just above her breasts. I should really look away.

I stared at her as she walked out of the water like...fuck. That one goddess lady with the ocean and planet name and shit. Whoever she was, my Marie was even more beautiful. The water dropped with each step revealing the small curves of her breasts, her stomach, hips, the dark patch of curls between her legs. My gaze stuttered there. I'd seen her naked in the shower before, but I'd never really let myself look. I finally managed to tear my eyes away, but then they just wandered further down to glance over her thighs and calves. She took the last step out of the water, and I looked back up, trying to take in as much of her body as I could.

She stood in front of me, shivering in the breeze. Her arms were wrapped across her chest, but not deliberately covering anything. Her hands didn't reach down to hide the curls between her legs or cover her hardening nipples, even though she blushed under my gaze.

The Wolverine had been just as stunned at the sight of her as I was, but he began to throw himself at his cage in my mind now that she stood in front of me. His thoughts were too jumbled and frantic for me to know if he just wanted to see her for himself or if he was actively planning on taking her. It was hard enough for me to get my own shit together and not pin her up against the nearest tree myself. Her staying naked wasn't going to help anything either, so I grabbed her towel and shoved it at her, forcing myself to stare at the water and not her—

—_her skin, so pale and smooth. Long, dark hair spilling over her shoulders and curling in between her thighs. Natural and untouched, so young and sweet, mine all mine my Marie-mate—_

"Where are mah—"

Her voice snapped me back into control, but her thick drawl only made me harder. She had to notice, my sweats didn't exactly hide much. Maybe it was dark. Maybe she just wasn't looking at my crotch because she wasn't a pervert like me.

"Raccoons."

I didn't trust my voice to say anything else. I looked back at her, and even though she had the towel wrapped around herself now, it didn't help because I still knew exactly what was beneath.

_S'wrong. Marie-mate shouldn't hide herself from me. Mine!_

The hike back up to the cabin would be hard for her, especially wearing just a towel and with so little sleep. I reached out to grab her and pick her up, but the thought of all that skin touching me, with only a towel between us...I lowered my hand and fought back a shudder. My cock had to be pitching a giant fucking tent in my sweats by now, and she'd notice any second.

"C'mon." I put my back to her and started walking. "Ya can hike yer own ass back up."

I heard her scramble after me to catch up, but I didn't slow down. I stayed slightly ahead of her the entire hike up while she stumbled along behind me. She was obviously exhausted, but goddammit, she deserved some sort of fucking punishment for pulling this shit, and I didn't trust myself to touch her anyway. Kid looked like she might collapse by the time we reached the top though, so I picked her up, trying not to touch anything but her back and behind her knees. The towel lay on top of her and hung off her left side, but her right side was uncovered. And I hadn't worn a shirt tonight because of the heat.

The Wolverine surged forward in my mind at the feeling of her bare side pressed into our bare chest. The side of her little tit kept rubbing against our skin with every heave of her chest, and if I tilted her down a bit, her nipple would—

Shit, no. I had to get her to the cabin. If I could just get her inside and get her dressed...the Wolverine didn't want to wait, and I had to wrestle him down as I shoved the cabin door open with my shoulder. I strode through the kitchen and practically shoved Marie into the bathroom. I stayed in control long enough to dig out one of my shirts and throw it in there with her. The thought of her wearing our shirt and nothing else finally broke me, and the sound of the shower running was the last thing I heard before he took over.

* * *

_My mate had ran off without permission again, but the human had dragged her back to our new nesting ground. I could hear water running as I gained control again, and the smell of my mate clung to my arms and chest. I growled and paced outside of the door separating us. One side of my instincts demanded I discipline her for her disobedience, but I'd been close enough to the front of the human's mind to remember how she'd looking floating in the lake. Dark water ripping over her pale skin, bared to me and dripping in the moonlight._

_I snarled and sat on the bed, gripping the mattress. She had disobeyed and needed discipline, but I just wanted to bury myself in her. And if I touched her at all, I didn't know if I would be able to stop until after I had claimed her._

Wait...have to wait...

_Discipline should be firm, yet fair. But I was angry and horny, and I didn't trust myself to be either. As loud as my instincts were screaming at me, I couldn't risk losing control with my Marie-mate. My head would be clearer in the morning, but the human would probably take over again while I slept._

...no. Your time.

_I didn't believe that the human would willingly give me control for so long, especially at a time like this, but he sounded reluctant enough that he might be telling the truth._

But if you fucking hurt her, it's over.

_I snarled again in frustration. I had **never** hurt our mate, and even now, I was putting my own instincts aside at the moment for her safety. The human fell back to the edge of our shared consciousness though, leaving me in command over our body._

_The door opened, and my mate came out. She didn't pause or hesitate as she walked across the room until she stopped in front of me. I stood up and couldn't resist touching her, although I settled for running my hand up her arm. I kept a firm grip on her shoulder and lifted her chin with my other hand. I tilted her head to the side to check on how her bruise was healing, and she kept her eyes downcast. She didn't smell afraid, but she clearly knew she was in trouble. The only scent I could detect on her was exhaustion, so I gently pushed her around until she sat where I had been. She didn't protest or look up, just continued to stare straight ahead. I decided I would have her explanation tonight and think of an appropriate punishment in the morning._

"Explain."_ I ordered._

"Ah had a nightmare. Ah didn't want to talk about it. Ah just had to—" _She broke off her monotone explanation and shrugged._ "Ah ran."

_I understood her reasoning, but I stayed impassive._ "You didn't wake me."

"Ah left a note."

_Her voice didn't contain any hint of a whine or disrespect. It sounded completely flat, and I looked her over carefully before I knelt in front of her._

"Our bones are metal. We can't swim. If something had happened to you in the lake...we wouldn't have been able to save you." _I explained._

_She nodded, but her eyes began to droop shut. I held her cheek, and she nuzzled into my hand._

"Ah'll be really sorry in the morning." _She mumbled._

_I snorted. She was damn right she would be sorry. But she was so tired, she could barely stay awake, much less properly learn a lesson. I picked her up again, and slid her beneath the blankets. She barely moved at all and didn't stir when I pulled her back against my chest. I wrapped an arm around her and rested my face in the crook of her neck. Her bite mark had faded, but I would wait until the morning to mark her again, when she was awake enough to understood what it meant. Her breathing quickly evened out, and she fell asleep almost instantly. I followed her shortly after, keeping her tucked close._

* * *

_I had my mate in my arms, and that was all that mattered. For a long time, I stayed like that, content just to hold her. But I knew something was wrong, if only from the silence. The human wasn't trying to take over or assert his dominance. He had retreated to the very farthest edges of our mind, leaving me as alone as I ever could be with my mate. I had control, and I could do whatever I wanted with her._

_I rose up on my elbow to look over her as she slept. Her breathing was soft and deep. I could vaguely remember the human forcing her to hike up the trail by herself, after a long day and little sleep. That was the punishment he gave her for her disobedience, but I still had my own ideas on how to properly teach her a much needed lesson._

_She didn't stir when I got up, and I moved silently across the wood floor. I walked around the inside of our nesting ground, exploring both floors. Satisfied that it was an adequate shelter, I went outside and walked the perimeter. We were deep enough into the forest that I couldn't hear the constant noise of humans and their machines. I approved of this place. The sun had finished rising, and I couldn't smell any humans or other large predators around the perimeter I had set up, so I went back inside to check on my mate again. _

_She was still asleep, wearing only my shirt. The collar had been twisted around in her sleep enough that the tip of one breast peeked out. She'd kicked the sheets down the way she usually did, leaving her legs bare. My shirt covered her hips and between her legs, but only just. And I'd seen what it hid last night, the image of her wet curls and hard nipples burned into my memory. _

_Most of my memories were hazy or almost gone completely, except for vague impressions of violence, death, and loss. Even the memories of our brother were faint and few, and the human refused to remember them at all._

_But **her**, my Marie-mate...I would never forget her. Even if the human did, even if neither of us could remember her face, I would always know the scent of my mate. She belonged to me and nothing could ever change that._

_But right now, I needed to focus on keeping her. She couldn't keep running off the way she had done the night before. Anything could have happened to her before the human noticed she was gone. Falling on the trail, being attacked by animals or humans, drowning in the water. My fists clenched at the last one. I could find other humans to fix her if she hurt herself in the forest, and I could kill anything that attacked her, but if something had happened to her in the water, there wouldn't have been a damn thing I could have done about it._

_I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Thinking about it would only piss me off again, and I needed to keep calm during her punishment. And if I wanted to stay in control, she would have to put something on underneath my shirt, before I lost it completely. I opened my eyes again and searched through the human's duffel bag where we kept our clothes. I found her underwear and took a moment to appreciate their scent. The human put up a slight protest at that, but he enjoyed it just as much as I did. He felt guilty about it though, which was fucking ridiculous. She was our mate, and there was nothing wrong with appreciating her scent. She and the human both were just lucky I hadn't shoved my nose in between the wet folds of her cunt and made her come on my face._

_Well, maybe that was a bit unfortunate for her, since she'd at least enjoy it. I sighed and grabbed her bra. Later, later, later. But the very fucking instant she showed any interest in a good, thorough fucking, I would be more than happy to get her on her hands and knees and show her how good mating could be. I might even let her try out a few other positions too, if she asked real pretty and sucked my cock for it._

_I put aside those thoughts for later and set up her underwear and toothbrush on the bathroom counter. I walked back in the bedroom to wake her up, but I noticed our tags laying on the little table near the bed, from where she'd left them last night. I picked them up and slid them over her head. She shifted a little in her sleep but didn't wake up, so I leaned over her and growled in her ear._

_When it was finally later, I'd wake her up with my cock, rolling her over and sliding in deep. I'd teach her how to wake me up too, with a blowjob, wet and sloppy, just the way I liked it._

_She stretched her neck forward, baring it for me submissively. I focused on that and contented myself with the knowledge that she'd accepted us as her Alpha in the meantime. I nudged at her head to get her to wake up fully and look at me._

"Wolvie?" _She mumbled._

_I pulled her shoulder down until she lay on her back and looked up at me, blinking the sleep out of her eyes. I hovered over her and watched her wake up. _

"Marie."

_She immediately lowered her eyes and bit at her lip. I rubbed her cheek with my thumb and then her side, making sure both had healed. She relaxed completely beneath me, although she shuddered a bit at one point. I waited, and a moment later, she raised her eyes up to meet mine. Before she could say anything though, her stomach growled._

_I raised an eyebrow. _"Hungry, kit?"

_She blushed and nodded._

"Then we'll eat first." _I decided._

_She winced at the obvious implication of her punishment, and I offered her my hand when I stood up. She took it without hesitation, still trusting me even though she smelled nervous. I took her into the bathroom, leaving her there to get dressed and groom herself. I felt her eyes on my back as I walked out._

"Put your underwear on, kitling."_ I called._

_Later, I wouldn't let her wear clothes at all. Ever. The human would take care of purchasing a safe, sturdy nesting ground as fucking far away from humans as possible, and it would just be us and our mate. No one else to see her, and if she wanted to keep warm, there'd be a fire and our body. I wouldn't bother with a bed either, just a pile of furs in front of the fire. We'd keep each other warm all night long with our mating. And no interruptions. I'd get rid of those stupid fucking little pieces of plastic the human had bought her. The only person I wanted to talk to was her, and we'd do it face to face the way it was meant to be._

_The sound of the bathroom door opening interrupted my planning. It had taken longer than it should have for her to get ready, but it made sense that she might feel reluctant. I would reassure her that although her punishment would teach her a very firm lesson, I would never be cruel or outright hurt her. A task that she could easily accomplish would make her feel useful and calm her nerves. I grabbed a box that had a picture of the floppy bread things the human liked and showed it to her when she came into the kitchen._

_I pointed at the picture. _"Make this."

_I looked forward to trying the floppy bread things for myself, and she smiled in gratitude at being given a simple order. I leaned against the counter and watched to make sure she was enjoying her task. She took out the supplies necessary to make the food I had requested, then started searching through the cabinets. She stopped when she found a large bowl, but she was too short to reach it. I watched her stretch and bounce on the tips of her feet for a few moments, enjoying the way my shirt rode up her thighs each time she stretched. Finally, I decided to help her. I pressed up close behind her, covering her entire back with my chest. She froze and inhaled sharply in shock at the full body contact while I reached up and grabbed the bowl for her. I set it in front of her and moved back, missing the feeling of her back beneath my chest already._

_I saw she had to swallow thickly before she could mumble out a thanks, and I smirked. She might be a young kitling, but not so young she couldn't appreciate having a strong Alpha at her back. It wouldn't be long until she got old enough to start being curious, and I'd show her anything she wanted._

_But I dragged my mind back to the present. My Marie-mate seemed to have accepted that she was in trouble and would be punished because of it, but I doubted she would accept the punishment itself without protest. I didn't want to try to deal with her struggling and trying to argue while she was being disciplined, so it would be better for her to get it out now._

"You have anything to say for yourself?" _I asked her._

_She looked at me in surprise. _"Ah thought you were waiting until after breakfast."

"For your punishment. But I know you got shit to say, so get it out now." _I said._

_She didn't need any more encouragement._ "Ah jus'...needed to get some air for a while. Ah didn't wake yah up because Ah wanted to be alone, but Ah left a note for yah so yah'd at least know where Ah went."

_I knew she still had a lot more to say than that, so I stayed quiet and waited. It only took a moment for the anger to become apparent in her scent, and she scowled at the bowl._

"Alrah-ght yes, Ah ran off without telling yah an' it was probably kinda stupid an' Ah got naked. Mah bad. But yah do that all the time, so no, Ah don't think it's fair that Ah'm getting in trouble for it."

"You're right." _I agreed._

"Ah am?" _She asked, dropping her spoon into the bowl._

_I gave the bowl a look and waited while she dug the spoon out. She put it in the sink and paused in her task to give me her full attention when I continued._

"If I wanted to tramp around the forest in the middle of the night, take off all my clothes, and go swimming, I could. And it wouldn't be a problem."

"Then why—"

"You can't because you're a kitling."

"But—"

"I am a trained killer with animal instincts. _I'm_ not going to trip on a log I didn't see and break my neck. _I'm_ not going to be attacked by a wild animal...because I am a wild animal. And if a couple of rednecks with shotguns found me naked and thought I was pretty, _I_ could fight them off." _I stalked __closer until I had her pinned against the stove._ "That's the difference between you and me."

_She averted her eyes and whined. I didn't know if it was because she knew I was right and was beginning to understand the lesson I wanted to teach her or if her reaction was only submissive instinct._

"Ah didn't think of that." _She finally mumbled._

"I know. You're just a kitling." _I gripped her chin again, raising it up so she would have to look at me._ "But you won't be a kitling much longer, and you need to start thinking things through, instead of doing reckless things that could get you hurt or killed or worse."

_I loosened my grip enough to allow her to nod, but I didn't let go just yet._

"That's why you're being punished. So next time you remember this, and you think before you act." _I finished._

_I lowered my hand, and her chin dropped with it. She stared down at our feet, and her breathing turned erratic and shaky. My mate was young and proud, and it was hard for her to admit that she might be wrong. Being in trouble at all was hard for her, and I knew how badly she needed the approval of the only dominant male in her life, so I pulled her close. She whimpered into my chest, and I nuzzled her hair to show her everything was still okay, she was still my good little mate, I still loved her. There was nothing she could do to change that. I would have told her all of that if I had thought it might make her feel better, but she was emotional enough without either of us speaking about our feelings out loud. Actions would be better than words for this, and she calmed down in only a few minutes._

_I gently pushed her back and reminded her, _"Floppy bread things."

_She laughed this time, immediately reassured at receiving permission to resume her task. _

"Okay." _She agreed with a sniffle. _"...floppy bread things."

_I nudged her head with my chin as a sign of dominant affection, and she lowered her head and blushed shyly. It made sense that my mate would instinctually be submissive and know how to take care of me, but sometimes it still amazed me at how well she understood me, although part of that could come from the piece of me she had in her mind. She happily returned to fixing me breakfast, and I decided I would make myself some meat to go with the floppy bread things. I took some bacon out of the freezer, because bacon tasted good with everything._

"Skillet?" _I asked her._

_Once again, she knew exactly what I meant and pointed at another cabinet. _"I thought I saw one in there."

_I got out the skillet and made a small helping of bacon. I only wanted enough snack on while I waited for my mate to finish making the floppy bread things. As I waited for the bacon to cook, I felt my mate's eyes on my back for the second time this morning. I could hear her hum softly in approval, the sound soft enough she probably didn't even know she was making it. I smirked and jostled the skillet, deliberately flexing when I did. She made another soft noise, and then I heard her shuffle around as the feeling of being watched eased. I could smell her embarrassment, but also a faint hint of arousal, just like when we stayed with the one female who had cubs. Our Marie-mate had sang us to sleep and slept with us that night, and she'd smelled so fucking good in the morning._

_Later, later, later, I reminded myself. The bacon finished cooking, and I sat at the table, distracting myself with that. If I couldn't sate one hunger, I'd just have to make do with another. My mate finished making the floppy bread things soon after I started eating, and she set a pile of them down on the table in front of me, along with a bottle of brown stuff. It didn't smell like coffee, so I ignored it and tried the floppy bread things. They almost tasted sweet, especially for bread. They were warm and fluffy, and I decided I liked them. Meat was still better, but this type of bread was good too._

_Marie-mate gave me two more of them, and I grunted out an acknowledgement of her cooking skill. I ate another floppy bread thing, and she made a noise in the back of her throat of such horror, I thought something was wrong._

"No!"

_There weren't any threats that might have scared her, and nothing had changed in the last thirty seconds. It almost sounded as if she was scolding me._

"No, no, no!" _She repeated._ "That's not how you eat that!"

_She was. My mate was scolding me._

Heh. Bad dog.

**Get out.**

_The human faded into the back of our mind with one last snicker, and my mate poured the brown stuff on one of my floppy bread things. She used a knife and fork to cut off a tiny slice of it and offered the fork to me._

"See? You use silverware and eat it a piece at a time." _She said._

_My lip curled back in disgust. If I wanted to cut my food, I had my own metal claws to do that. I didn't need some pathetic fake claw humans had made to make themselves feel better about being weak and useless. I ate the rest of my floppy bread thing the way I wanted to and pulled my plate back to me. I watched my mate carefully while I ate to be sure she didn't try to ruin my food again. That brown stuff smelled sickeningly sweet, and it probably tasted even worse. I ignored the soaked one completely and ate the rest of my pile. I shoved my plate back at her when I finished so she could get me more. She looked at the plate, then at me, like she was confused._

"More."

"Ah'm finishing mah pancake first." _She replied defiantly._

_She really shouldn't be testing me while she was still in trouble, but she hadn't technically said no. I sat back and waited, giving her my best stare while I wondered why the fuck she called her floppy brown thing a pancake. She hadn't used a pan to make it. I hated human words. They never made any __goddamn sense._

_I let her finish eating like she wanted, and then she got up and made me more food like she should. She offered me the plate when it was full again, but I just waited. Her submissive instincts kicked in again, and she brought the plate to me like a good little kitling. I pulled her close and nuzzled against the side of her cheek to show my approval. She was a fast learner, and she would know how to properly behave around her Alpha soon enough. And she had made my food first and let me eat before her without being told, so I offered her some of my bacon the next time she refilled my plate. _

_One day, I should do it properly, and hunt down a pig for her myself. They didn't run wild anymore though, so just cooking the meat would have to do. But one day, I would hunt something for her and present her with the meat from my kill. She had good instincts and claimed to love me—which I still didn't understand or deserve—so she would undoubtedly accept my offer. I may not be able to claim her the way I should after she accepted my mating offer, but at least it would be a start._

_I finished eating while I planned out more ways to bind her to me, and she took my empty plates. I watched her set them in the sink, but she hesitated there, knowing it was time for her punishment now that breakfast was over. I walked over to her and took her hand again. She let me lead her back over to the table, and I sat down, pulling her down over my right knee. She must have finally realized what her punishment was going to be, because she started struggling then. I had hoped she would behave, but my mate was just too feisty to relent without a struggle._

"No, Wolv—"

"Marie." _I growled, cutting off her pleading._

_I wanted to let her keep going, wanted to hear my name coming out of her mouth while she pleaded with me, but her punishment wasn't going to change no matter how pretty she begged. And I wasn't certain I could stay calm if I had to listen to her begging._

_She stopped pleading, but she kept struggling, so I pinned her hands behind her back. When she tried to twist out of my grip, I raised her hands up, which forced her shoulders down. I didn't lift them high enough to hurt her or even cause her any real discomfort, just enough to keep her bent over my knee. She tried kicking next, but I caught both her legs between my thighs, leaving just her upper thighs and ass free. My shirt had twisted around in between her legs, so I tugged it out of the way, leaving just her underwear to cover her. She looked so fucking good like this, and one day we would repeat this in a much more pleasurable way, just like in the human's dream. But for now, this was a punishment, even if the whining noises she was making just made me want to fuck her throat raw._

"This spanking has been a long time coming now, and you know it, kitling." _I said, making absolutely certain my voice stayed calm and even._

_She gave a desperate whimper, and I forced myself to block it out._

"You get ten swats, and you're going to be a good little kitling and count them for me out loud."

"Wha—"

_I gave my mate her first swat before she could finish, and she tried to arch upwards with a gasp. I kept her held down while she took deep, shuddering breaths. I could already smell the salt of her tears, but that was likely just from the shock. I'd hit her hard enough to sting and leave a red mark, but not a bruise. There was a difference between not wanting to sit down and being unable to walk, and I didn't plan on ever crossing that line with her. I waited for a good thirty seconds, but she still didn't start the count._

"Kitling. I'm only going to warn you once."

_Her breaths got even quicker and shorter. She didn't sob or make any sounds of pain though, and I could feel the tension in her body as she stubbornly resisted. I growled at her, and she finally went limp, submitting to me and her punishment._

"...one."

* * *

**A/N: Mmmmm, Dominant!Wolverine is my favorite. Hell, Wolverine in general is really started to grow on me. I had SO MUCH FUN writing this chapter! There were a couple of times I had to take a break, I was laughing so hard. I totally imagine Wolverine being a complete chauvinist and hating technology even more than Logan.**

**And for those of you who noticed the slight reference, yes, Wolverine does have a bit more memories than Logan. I think that would make sense because the entire reason he exists is basically to protect Logan. He comes out in times of violence and fights and kills so "his human" doesn't have to deal with that shit. But of course Logan just thinks that's all there is to him, the killing and violence, and writes him off as an animal, so it gets complicated. But yeah, in my headcannon, Wolverine protects Logan from all the bad stuff like that. And that includes memories. So even though their memories are slowly returning, all they really have memories of is war and losing all their friends. That's some heavy shit, so Wolverine takes over and keeps it from Logan for his own good.**

**Also yes, that was a reference to Victor too. Logan doesn't even accept his own animal, so of course he's going to have some major fucking issues with remembering he's related to Sabertooth. So he just doesn't. Takes the typical Logan way out and subconsciously runs away from it. But Victor will definitely be playing a large part in this story, so I'm trying to ease him in here. I may have a chapter where Logan and Wolverine kind of deal with their mental problems and figure out everything I just explained to you on their own, but in the meantime, I don't want to deal with a thousand reviews asking me why Wolverine remembers shit Logan doesn't.**

**Moving on from that slight rant, any ideas on what Marie and Wolverine should do when they go camping in the next chapter? Campfire, marshmallows, more swimming?**

**Also, really great news: I only have about 7 or 8 important plot events (like birthdays, Christmas, Marie having wet dreams, etc) to happen before shit goes down and they start on their journey to the mansion! I feel like all of those are too important to skip over, but I'll try to get them down in only one chapter or two at the most so we can get on to the mansion quicker.**

**And since so many of you have written me such nice, sympathetic reviews about the semester starting and how you're all worrying about school too, I asked Logan for some advice. If you want to hear what tips he gave me for surviving the semester, REVIEW and I'll post it on Friday as a short little back to school special to make up for the cutback on updates!**


	25. Declassified School Survival Guide

**A/N: So, as promised, here are Logan's tips on how to survive the semester:**

* * *

1. Assert Your Dominance

If someone tries to give you shit, a throat punch will shut that shit down real quick.

2. Bang Your Professor

If you get a D, try sucking the D.

3. Don't Be A Nerd

Chess is NOT a sport. Join a fucking fraternity.

4. Get Paid, Get Laid

Get a goddamn job. Bitches love men with jobs.

5. Use A Condom

Wrap that shit up or you'll be wrapping up baby shit.

6. Dress Yourself

You are a grown ass adult. Fucking dress like one.

7. Get Some Motherfucking Sleep

If you fall asleep in my class, you WILL die.

8. Don't Take Early Morning Classes

Don't fuck yourself over like that.

9. Go to Events

Nine times out of ten, there's free food and shit.

10. Study With Friends

You can't stop writing and masturbate in front of your friends.

Unless they're female.

And they help.

11. Drink Responsibly

Liquor before beer, you're in the clear. Beer before liquor, you'll never feel sicker.

12. Only Yes Means Yes

If you have to get a girl drunk to fuck her, you have a small dick.

13. Recycle

Marie said I had to add this.

Seriously though, throw your shit away and quit fucking up nature.

14. Go Vegan

Just fucking with you. Don't ever do that.

15. Don't Be A Dick

Unless you're Scooter, don't wear sunglasses indoors.

He's still a dick.

16. Don't Slut Shame

Women can have game too.

17. Bring Your Shit to Class

Book, pencil, paper. Scantron on test day. It ain't that fucking difficult.

18. Go to Class

It's what you paid for, dumbass. So show up.

19. I Will Smash Your Cellphone

I will smash your motherfucking cellphone.

20. IF YOU MESS WITH MARIE YOU WILL HAVE 99 PROBLEMS

ALL OF THEM WILL BE ME

* * *

**A/N: For the love of god, don't actually follow tips 1, 2, or 14. I'm providing you this list for humorous purposes only, any unpleasant results stemming from following any of these tips are entirely your own fault, and neither I, James "Logan" Howlett, Professor Charles Francis Xavier, or Xavier's Institute can be held responsible. All of the opinions expressed in the list are the sole property of James "Logan" Howlett. No vegans were harmed in the making of this list; please respect all lifestyles.**

**Also, you know that part in the last author's update where I promised bonfires and marshmallows? I lied, and I'm sorry...not sorry. I accidentally wrote angst instead, and Wolverine, Logan, and Marie are NOT happy campers. They don't camp at all, actually.**

**So to make up for that, I'm bribing you not to form an angry mob with this extra special post from Logan AND a preview of the next chapters for BBW and TBH, respectively. I'll just leave you with these and wish you all a wonderful semester filled with lots of sleep, good grades, and sexy professors!**

* * *

"Marie? God...please, Marie. I'm sorry, I'm so—"

"Shut up!"

We locked eyes for a moment, but she closed hers and blindly crawled backward away from me. She huddled with her back against the kitchen counter and her eyes squeezed shut. I slowly lowered myself to my knees on the floor and shuffled closer, but she shook her head back and forth and started mumbling _shut up_ repeatedly. I froze and didn't speak. She eventually stopped muttering, and we just sat there in silence.

I concentrated on keeping my breathing even and my claws sheathed. What had he done to her? I could remember hitting—bile rose up in my throat, and I had to choke it down. I might have dreamed about something similar once, but I'd known it was wrong even then. And I wouldn't ever—how hard had he—she had been screaming—

"What...did he...do?"

My throat felt tight, and it was hard to speak. It hurt even worse when she refused to answer.

"Marie."

Still no answer.

"Marie..."

I had never said please in my remembered life before I met her, and I'd never thought anything could make me beg. Even in my nightmares, I had screamed and howled and bit through my tongue, but I hadn't begged. My pride and my claws were the only things I had, but neither of them stopped me from literally begging her on my knees.

"Pl-please..."

* * *

"Mah skin. It might have turned on."

"Jesus fucking Christ. _That's_ all this is about?"

I scrambled away from him and shoved his arms back when he tried to reach for me.

"Yah don't get it! Ah coulda killed yah!" I shouted.

"You're not going to kill me, kid." He said, actually having the audacity to sound exasperated.

"YES AH CAN!" I resorted to outright screaming. "Ah can kill yah or put yah in a coma! Yah can't touch meh, no one can evah touch meh, no no NO!"

He reached for me again, and I tried to keep shoving him back, but he just grabbed my wrists with one hand. With his other hand, he shoved the sleeve down and pressed my bare hand against his face.

_**I love you. Love you forever. Please don't cry, fucking hate it when you cry.**_

I hit the floor, gasping for breath for the second time in one morning. Logan lay on the floor next to me. He wasn't moving.


	26. Lessons Learned

**A/N: Just a quick reminder here! When in Wolvie POV, his voice is BOLD and Logan's is **REGULAR**. When in Logan's POV, his voice is **_ITALICS_ **and Wolverine's is _BOLD ITALICS._**

* * *

**STILL JULY**

* * *

_I smacked my mate's ass a second time, before she could get over the shock of the first. She yelped, and I gave her a moment to continue the count._

"This isn't..." _She took a deep breath and wailed,_ "...faaaaair!"

_I gave her another smack for her disobedience, and she surrendered again with a whimper._

"Thr—ee."

"No, kitling. That was two." _I corrected._

_She breathed in deep again, but didn't protest. _"Two."

_I rubbed her ass, telling myself it was to soothe her burning skin and not for my own enjoyment. Even I had to admit that was a lie though, so I forced myself to stop and continue the punishment._

"Three." She counted.

_She'd stopped struggling, but I heard her choke down another whimper after the next swat. She kept up the count though, like a good little kitling. The higher she counted, the easier it got for me to control myself. The punishment the human had given our mate in his dream had been more pleasure than pain for her, but this was pure pain. And despite what the human believed, I would never enjoy hurting my mate. I was only doing this so she would start thinking about the consequences of her actions and stop putting herself in danger._

"Eigh...t."

_And she was taking her punishment so well. She'd accepted my explanation for why she was in trouble, and aside from her brief struggle at first, she hadn't resisted. She only had two swats left, and I was glad it would be over soon. I hated to make her cry, but this was for her own good, and I could comfort her when I was done._

"Wolverine!" _She suddenly shouted, struggling wildly again._

"Kitli—"

"No, stop!"_ She begged._ "Really, stop, please stop!"

_I stopped. She was so close to being done that I didn't understand why she would beg for mercy now. I didn't plan on letting her get out of being punished for a second time, but I couldn't bring myself to continue when she cried and begged like this. The human stirred in the back of my mind, but I kept him shoved down and set my hand on top of her ass. She kept struggling though, so I pressed down on her lower back instead, keeping her pinned to my thigh. She actually calmed down then, panting for breath._

"Mah skin. What if it turns on?" _She asked._

_That's what had upset her so badly?_

"You're not scared enough for that." _I answered._

"But what if—"

_I snorted, caught between annoyance and amusement. "It's not going to hurt me, kit. My hand is only touching you for a second."_

_I prepared to start again and get her last two swats out of the way, but the human's voice pushed its way to the front of my mind._

Don't! You're fucking hurting her!

**I'm discipling her. It's for her own good, and she's doing fi—**

_My mate suddenly lost her mind. She kicked and flailed and arched, struggling so hard I worried I really might hurt her if I tried to restrain her. The entire time, she screamed just one word over and over again, _stop._ The human roared in my head, enraged by her screams, and beat me back to the edge of our mind._

* * *

I took back control and the first thing I heard was Marie screaming. She stopped abruptly and the silence was even worse. I was still mostly in the chair, holding onto the table with one hand. She lay a few feet away, gasping for breath on the floor.

"...kid?" I choked out.

She let out a loud sob and curled in on herself, trying to hide in my shirt.

_What did you do, what did you fucking do?!_

The Wolverine tried to whine out a protest, but I slammed him back down.

"Marie? God...please, Marie. I'm sorry, I'm so—"

"Shut up!"

We locked eyes for a moment, but she closed hers and blindly crawled backward away from me. She huddled with her back against the kitchen counter and her eyes squeezed shut. I slowly lowered myself to my knees on the floor and shuffled closer, but she shook her head back and forth and started mumbling _shut up_ repeatedly. I froze and didn't speak. She eventually stopped muttering, and we just sat there in silence.

I concentrated on keeping my breathing even and my claws sheathed. What had he done to her? I could remember hitting—bile rose up in my throat, and I had to choke it down. I might have dreamed about something similar once, but I'd known it was wrong even then. And I wouldn't ever—how hard had he—she had been screaming—had he ra—

"What...did he...do?"

My throat felt tight, and it was hard to speak. It hurt even worse when she refused to answer.

"Marie."

Still no answer.

"Marie..."

I had never said please in my remembered life before I met her, and I'd never thought anything could make me beg. Even in my nightmares, I had screamed and howled and bit through my tongue, but I hadn't begged. My pride and my claws were the only things I had, but neither of them stopped me from literally begging her on my knees.

"Pl-please..."

She opened her eyes, but she didn't look up. "Me."

"What did he do to you?"

I didn't want to know, didn't want to hear what he'd done. But if I just knew what I was apologizing for, maybe I could figure out a way to fix it.

"Marie, wha—"

"He didn't do anything to me. He didn't hurt me. Don't be mad at him." She finally answered, her voice completely dead.

I checked her scent. She wasn't lying.

_Never hurt her..._

**_Shut the fuck up._**

But if she was telling the truth, then what the fuck was going on? Something bad had to have happened, and I couldn't believe it didn't have anything to do with what he had done to her.

"What happened?"

Nothing.

"We can stay here all day." I warned.

Marie still didn't answer the question, but she raised her hand and gripped my tags. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. For a second, it looked like she would yank them off and throw them away. I couldn't breath for a long moment, but she didn't take them off. Instead, I watched her grip them tighter and tighter until the edge of the metal cut into her hand. Blood trickled down her wrist, and I had to force myself to stay where I was and not touch her.

"Let go."

She didn't respond. I was trying to be gentle and understanding and not fuck up the one good thing in my life anymore than the Wolverine already had, but I couldn't let her hurt herself.

"Marie, let go of my tags." I pleaded.

"NO!" She yelled.

She half rose and scrambled back, slamming herself against the counter. Her head hit a handle, and I instinctively reached for her, but she flinched back. I dropped my hand and stayed where I was. She touched the back of her head, and her fingers came back bloody. She looked and them and whimpered, and my chest lurched. She raised her head to meet my eyes and gave me a pitiful look. I would have gone to her then, but she came to me first.

Marie crawled across the floor and paused just in front of me. I kept my hands at my sides, waiting to see what she would do. I thought she might crawl into my lap next, but she sort of draped her torso across my legs instead. She lay on her side, with her head resting on my thigh. It was a strange position that couldn't have been very comfortable, but her face was turned away from my crotch at least, so I didn't try to move her. She tucked her legs back up into my shirt, and just laid there, still not saying one damn word.

I wanted to touch her, but I didn't want to set off another freakout. I finally settled for touching her head, because I could justify that as checking on the gash behind her ear. She let me push her hair aside and look at it, although she flinched away again when I tried to touch it. That could have been just because it hurt though. The gash still bled a little, but head wounds always bled like a bitch, and it looked pretty shallow.

"Nothing happened." She finally mumbled.

That was obviously a lie, but I would take it. She was talking now, and that had to be better than silence.

"He hurt you." I reminded her.

_I—_

_**Don't speak. Not a fucking word.**_

"No, he didn't."

I shook my head, against her words and the memory of her screaming for me to stop. "I remember he...hurt...you."

"He spanked meh. He wasn't even mean about it. He explained why Ah was in trouble. He didn't yell at meh. He didn't even use a belt." She said.

I had a reply about how it was still wrong of him to hurt her, especially since she'd clearly learned her goddamn lesson already, but her offhanded comment about the belt made my throat tighten up again.

"Mah dad used a belt. That left bruises." Her voice stayed the same, like she was just talking about what color a passing car was, not her father whipping her hard enough to leave a lasting mark.

And that was just what he did to her before he turned her out on the streets for being a mutant. I wanted to take a little side trip to Mississippi and rip his fucking throat out. I would too, if I wasn't worried what it might do to Marie. But all she ever had to do was even hint that she wanted him gone for good, and I'd be more than happy to take care of it for her.

She sighed, and I felt her ribs move beneath my hand. I hadn't even realized I'd started gripping her side, and I snatched my hand back. Had I squeezed too tight? Would she freak out again because I touched her? But she whined instead and grabbed my hand, guiding it back around her waist. I wrapped my arm around her, pressing her back tight against my stomach.

"It was meh." She whispered. "Ah'm the one who freaked out."

"Why?"

I wanted to punch myself in the face the moment I asked. Why did I fucking think she freaked out, being pinned down and spanked by a man twice her size with an animal in control of his body?

"Mah skin. It might have turned on."

I sucked in a sharp breath. "Jesus fucking Christ. _That's_ all this is about?"

I didn't know whether to be relieved or pissed. Was that really all that happened? She only flipped out about being spanked because she was worried about her goddamn skin? As far as I knew, it hadn't even turned on since that one time she bumped into some broad at a gas station. She'd done fine ever since then. A couple of nightmares yeah, but hardly any problems with all her voices, and nothing about her skin.

Just as I was thinking maybe this could all be some sort of misunderstanding, not even a big deal at all, she sat up and shoved away from me again.

"Yah don't get it! Ah coulda killed yah!" She shouted at me.

I barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes at her. "You're not going to kill me, kid."

"YES AH CAN! Ah can kill yah or put yah in a coma! Yah can't touch meh, no one can evah touch meh!" Marie screamed.

I tried to pull her back again so I could reason with her, but she slapped my hands away and kept screaming _no_. I'd stayed away and not touched her at all the first time she freaked out, but she was practically hysterical again, so that approach obviously hadn't worked. The poor kid smelled fucking terrified. I was just planning on pulling her into my lap and hugging her until she calmed down and listened to me, but then she wrapped her arms around herself and started scratching at her arms. My shirt sleeves kept her nails from actually scratching her skin, but she really looked like she was honestly trying to hurt herself, and she didn't even seem to know she was doing it, just like with my tags.

This shit had to stop, right the fuck now.

I caught one of her hands and pushed the cuff of my shirt down. I just wanted her to stop smelling so scared and fucking _guilty_, like all of this was her fault. I wanted her to know I loved her. I wanted her to stop screaming and actually hear me.

I pressed her hand against my face and concentrated on those thoughts, on how much I loved her.

Then I was laying flat on the floor, trying to suck air into my lungs. I couldn't move, but I didn't feel any pain. If anything, I felt tired, spent and boneless like after...fuck, like after a really good orgasm. I really fucking hoped she didn't pick up any of that. It didn't feel good, and I definitely wasn't hard or anything, but it was definitely an adrenaline rush. And this time, I'd felt her sucking in a piece of me, and a sick part of me reveled in it, how it was the closest thing I had to having sex with her, claiming and possessing her in a way.

"Logan?"

I swallowed and prayed she hadn't gotten any of that last part at all.

"Kid..." I had to swallow again and gasp for breath. "You alright?"

She didn't say anything, and I started thinking about just how stupid that had been. I was so worried the Wolverine had hurt her when I let him out, but what about now? I'd just put him back in her head or made his voice stronger or...shit. I didn't even fucking know what I had done, but there was no way it could be good.

Marie started muttering again. I tried to lift my arm, but I could only make a fist. Goddamn, that little girl had knocked me out good. What was he saying to her? At her birthday dinner, she'd tried to explain how the Wolverine she had in her head was almost "frozen in time," I guess. I wasn't really sure if I understood it, but it sounded like she had an old "version" of him, back from when he still thought she wasn't anything but our packmate. But now he knew better, knew she was our mate, and I'd gone and stuck him in her head.

Shit damn fuck fuck fuck. Why was I so fucking stupid?! I got my arms to work again and managed to sit up. That made my head spin though, and I had to pause while I tried to work up enough strength to gasp out another question, but then Marie started yelling again.

"Shut up! Shut up both of yah, jus' shut up!"

Both of you? Who the fuck else was she talking to? Were the other voices giving her shit again? Had I managed to fuck up whatever sort of balance she had going on in her head?

I turned over on my hands and knees, still not strong enough to actually stand up yet. But I could crawl a bit, enough to get close to Marie, and that was all that really mattered.

"Marie?"

She sat up, using her upward momentum to drive her fist into my face. It didn't hurt at all, but it threw off the little balance I had, and I toppled over onto my back. She followed after me, straddling my waist and punching me again. I really needed to teach my girl how to punch, because they didn't do a damn thing. I sure as hell deserved them though, so I lay back and let her hit me until she got tired and collapsed on top of my chest.

"Yah...yah..." She panted.

She must not have been able to think of swear words insulting enough, so she just screamed into my chest instead. At any other time, it would have been cute.

"M'not dead." I offered, hoping she'd be happy about that and not disappointed.

She looked up at me. "What?"

"You touched me...and I'm...not dead." She didn't say anything, so I kept going. "Nothing for...you to be...afraid of."

I lifted my head to look at her, but she started crying again. Shit. I let my head drop back down and thunk against the wood floor. I was all out of ideas on how to make this right. I'd probably fucked it up even worse already, anyway.

She sniffled and mumbled to herself, "Ah told ya'll to shut up."

"His voice real strong..." I touched her head. "...in you, kid?"

Fuck, please don't tell her shit about us being mates. I didn't think I could take any more emotions today. She made me feel so goddamn much, more in three fourths of a year than in all the other fifteen I remembered combined. I didn't know how to handle it.

"Both of yah." She said.

"What?"

"Ah got yeh voice this time." She answered. "Now Ah have yah an' Wolvie, an' yah don't get along well."

So I'd given her another voice. My voice. So was it really me in there? Everything that I'd felt when I touched her? Would I have the sense to keep my goddamn mouth shut?

I decided to apologize anyway, just in case. "Shit. I'm so—"

"No, stop. Yah have to stop...stop." She repeated, almost to herself.

She pressed her hands against her eyes and breathed slow and even, until she stopped crying and calmed herself down. Then she opened her eyes again and looked at me.

"Yah didn't do anything wrong." She said. "Wolvie didn't do anything wrong. Don't be mad at him or feel guilty because yah've both been trying to help an' yeh a perfect, special snowflake."

Uh, what? The fuck did snowflakes have to do with anything, and if I was so fucking perfect, then why did she freak out so goddamn badly and keep crying?

"Then...what's wrong?" I asked.

"Me! Ah'm wrong, an' this entire thing is mah fault!" She shouted back.

"There ain't nothin' wrong with you, kid." I tried to reassure her.

She wasn't having any of it though, and she blanched, screwing her eyes shut again.

"Ah can't do three conversations at once..." She laid her hand on my chest, right over my heart, like she was checking to be sure I was really there. "Real-Logan, you talk."

Fuck. What did I even have to say? I'd already tried apologizing to her at least fifty fucking times this morning, and that wasn't getting me anywhere. I didn't like the way she kept blaming herself for everything, and the way she'd almost hurt herself couldn't happen ever again, so I decided to go with that.

"Why do you think you're...wrong?" I asked.

"Mah skin—"

"Didn't even hurt me until I forced you to. And I'm sorry for that, but it didn't kill me, didn't put me in a coma, it barely even hurt. I'm fine now, so I don't understand why you think this is your fault." I said.

She looked down at her hands, which were still pressed flat against my chest. "Ah'll...hurt yah."

I slowly pushed myself up, giving her plenty of time to push me back down or away from her. When she didn't, I wrapped my arms around her and kept her in my lap. I raised my hand and let her look at it while I slid out my claws.

"Do you trust me not to hurt you?" I asked her.

She ran a fingertip over the flat side of the middle claw while I held my breath. "Yes."

"Even though I could literally kill you in my sleep?"

"Ah could do the same to yah." She argued.

"But I trust you, just like you trust me." I said.

She didn't say anything back and leaned into my chest. I sheathed my claws again and cautiously touched her hair. She didn't pull away, so I stroked down her head, petting her hair while we both relaxed. We still had a lot of shit to work through, but at least she wasn't crying, screaming, or hitting me anymore. She wasn't muttering either, but I heard her make the soft humming noise she did when she said she was talking to the Wolverine in her head. I wondered if she was talking to me too, but if the two of us had shit to work out, then the three of them probably needed time to get their shit together too.

I let her have some time and didn't interrupt for several minutes, but then she randomly burst into laughter. It didn't sound sarcastic or crazy, and she was even started to smell a little bit happy. I couldn't believe it. I was so sure whatever I'd done to her head would only fuck her up even more than what the Wolverine had done to her, but scents didn't lie. I raised her head and gave her a concerned look. She returned it with a small smile.

"The two of yah are arguing about who loves me most." She said.

Oh. Well, that wasn't so bad. As long as she didn't hear anything about the mates thing.

"Am I winning?" I asked.

"It's not a competition. Ah love yah both equally." She replied.

I scowled. Bullshit it wasn't a competition.

_She still loves me?_

_**You don't deserve it. **_I reminded him.

_Neither do ya, bub._

I couldn't argue with that. Neither of us deserved her, and we sure as fuck didn't deserve her love. We were selfish animals though, and we'd take the love of our mate for as long as she was willing to give it to us.

"Ah'm sorry Ah freaked out on yah." She whispered, dropping her head back against my chest.

"I'm sorry I let that happen."

_I'm sorry too, Marie-mate._

"Lo—"

"Marie, no." I interrupted. "What he did was too far, and he knows it."

_Jest tell her I'm sorry fer me...please..._

"...he says he's sorry too."

_**There. Shut up.**_

"Wasn't that bad." She replied.

I didn't understand why she was so goddamn determined to stick up for him. Her ass probably still hurt from the spanking he'd given her, and it had caused this whole fucking mess. I wasn't going to let this happen again. There had to be a better way to let her know she'd done something wrong without hurting her like that.

"You said he told you why you were in trouble...?"

"Yeah. He explained that yah two could run off an' get naked because yeh old an' strong enough to take care of yehselves. Ah can't because Ah'm young an' little, an' if someone else had found me, it could have ended really badly. He jus' wants meh to think about stuff like that before Ah act." She said.

Shit, that was actually a reasonable explanation. What I would have said.

"He's a person Logan, an' he loves me jus' like yah do." She pressed. "He didn't spank meh because he was mad at meh an' wanted to hurt meh. He only did it because he wants meh to think about the consequences of mah actions."

"Did you understand all of that before he...spanked you?" Just saying the word out loud left a bad taste in my mouth.

"Yeah."

"Then it wasn't necessary. Next time you—or me, if either of us do something wrong, we can talk about it like adults." I told her.

"Did yah jus' volunteer to start talking about yeh feelings?" She asked, looking up at me in shock.

"Yeah...I guess I did." I mumbled, feeling kind of stupid about it.

"Alrah-ght...pinky promise." She said, holding up her pinky.

What the fuck was I supposed to do with her pinky? She stared at me like she was waiting for me to do something though, so I held up my hand next to hers and hoped she'd just show me what to do. She reached out and twined her pinky around mine.

"With this pinky promise, we swear to be adults." She solemnly declared.

I grinned a little at how serious she tried to look, sitting in my lap and holding my pinky, wearing nothing but my oversized shirt. She grinned back at me.

"...aaaaand Wolvie still teaches meh how to fight."

My smile immediately dropped. "Kid."

"Part of the problem here is that Ah might hurt mahself or accidentally hurt someone else. Ah need to learn how to protect mahself, or neither of yah will ever be okay with letting meh out of yeh sight." She argued.

"Yes, that. I'll just never let you out of my sight." I decided.

Perfectly reasonable.

"Logan." She growled in her little human voice, tightening her grip on my pinky like she was threatening me.

I raised an eyebrow and flexed my hand, amused at the way she tried not to be impressed. I saw her eyes widen a tiny bit though, and I had to fight back a smirk.

"Yah weren't so tough when yah were gasping for air an' flopping on the floor like a fish outta water." She snapped.

I let out my grin. "Yeah, you really knocked the wind outta me."

"That's not something to be happy about!" She whined.

"You should be proud, kid. Only one to ever knock out the King of the Cage." I teased.

"An' don't yah forget it, sugah!"

* * *

**A/N: Sorry I posted this so late today; I just got back from a trip to see my grandparents. Also sorry about this raging angst monster that I wrote. It just kind of happened, and no, there won't be any camping or marshmallows.**

**Think of it this way, you can either have another chapter with a bit of marshmallows and fluff, or I can start skipping the fuck ahead. I hear your complaints about how slow this is moving, and even I want this to hurry up already. But I still want a well written story with believable character development instead of "and three years later when Marie is conveniently legal and has fallen in love with Logan off camera because we all know they're destined to be together anyway, they have smut because I said so." I hate that shit. I would rather read thirty chapters of two people actually falling in love than three hastily written "because I said so" chapters.**

**So that's what happened with this update, and I'm going to try to combine all those important plot points I mentioned last time into just a few chapters. I'm shooting for five to eight. I know that's still a lot, but I promise I'll try really hard to keep it on the lower end of the scale and still keep the quality high. **

**Pray for me.**

**Coming up next: It's Marie's fifteenth birthday, and both Logan and Wolverine each have something to teach her...**

* * *

**And I almost forgot! THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT! My mom is trying to win a competition that would really mean a lot to her. She's a custom cowboy bootmaker, which means she makes cowboy boots by hand-no employees, no assembly line. Machines and tools, obviously, but all on her own. She's considered a master bootmaker and she's been doing it for twenty years. Her boots have appeared in the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum and she was featured on Craft in America.**

**She's a big fucking deal, guys. The award for winning the competition is a trip to New York City and $10,000. So please pleas PLEASE follow this link, make an account, and vote for my mommy! You can vote SIX times a day PER email. So if you have three emails, you can make three accounts and vote eighteen times, if you really love me like that.**

**The link is: www. marthastewart americanmade/nominee/79574?site_section=am&destination=http%3A%2F% .com%2Famericanmade%2Fnominee%2F79574**

**Just remove the spaces in between the two dots and forward slash after com. Fanfiction is really weird about posting links, so I had to put the spaces in. Please help my mom win!**


	27. Checkmate, Asshole

Fifteen. The kid was turning fucking fifteen in just about a month now. I thought fourteen had been filled with tantrums, hormones, and emotional trauma, but the brats on TV always went apeshit right around fifteen or sixteen. Lost their fucking minds with drugs, piercings, tattoos...sex.

Like fucking hell my mate would be having sex with anyone but me. And her figure had filled out in a way that was making me lose my goddamn mind. On the plus side, she noticed the changes herself and stopped doing stupid shit, like licking chocolate off her fingers and running around naked.

On the other side, she'd stopped licking chocolate off her fingers and running around naked.

I fucking missed that. But I had to admit, it was probably best for my sanity. Her upcoming birthday marked her getting one year closer to legal, and her body showed it. The Wolverine was just counting down the days until her sixteenth, although he'd settled down a lot since our fourth of July weekend. We'd both swallowed a fuckton of our pride back then, but it had been worth it. Marie forgave us, and we'd started talking about our problems like adults.

That didn't mean everything was always kittens shitting rainbows though. She had my voice in her head now, and she hadn't locked it—me—up like the rest. So now she had two voices talking to her all the time. She said me and her Wolverine had learned to share most of the time, which had to be more for her sake than anything, but it was still difficult for her.

In the beginning, she'd get confused about who was talking and reply to the wrong me. I didn't mind when she randomly said something that was meant for him since it clued me in a bit on what they were talking about, but it really pissed me off when she'd ignore me and talk to him. Especially when she thought she'd told me something, and I had no fucking clue what she was doing or talking about.

Lots of fights about that, but she got better at it, and I learned some patience since I was the fucktard who put my voice in her head in the first place. And she always wanted to be more independent, which was a big fucking fighting point. Her being independent scared the shit out of me. It was obvious enough that Marie picked up on it or else the me in her head let something slip. She tried to reassure me she wasn't trying to run off and become a crime fighter, and then she tried negotiating, and now she was outright screaming.

"Three blocks!" She yelled.

I leaned against the door, blocking her exit while she paced in front of me.

"Yah can't trust meh for three blocks?!"

"At night, walking alone, in this shit hole town." I reminded her.

"Well if yah so worried about it being dangerous, how about Ah get those fighting lessons yah promised? It's been two months, where the hell are they?!" She demanded.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Don't swear at me."

She winced, tilting her head the way she did when she was talking to me or him. I softened my expression, but still stared at her until she let me know what was going on.

"Sorry. Echo. Sometimes yah two sync up and say the same thing at the same time." Her shoulders slumped, and she sat on the bed. "Ah gotta listen to yah out here an' in mah head, an' sometimes Ah jus' want yah to shut up."

"You weren't like this when you got him." I said, crossing my arms.

_Maybe she likes me best._

_**Shut up, mutt.**_

_Pussy._

"He's a different person. Ah talked to yah here and him in there. Now Ah can't even take a shower without yah giving meh a lecture about not dropping the soap." She said.

I raised an eyebrow, and she managed to give me a look that was both sheepish and a glare.

"Ah slipped once, an' yah sulked for the rest of the night!" She said, looking at me like it was my fault.

I gave her a grim smile in return. "Getting tired of me, kid?"

She sighed, and I dug my fingernails into my bicep.

"Ah jus' wanna little time to mahself. Watching a movie keeps yah two occupied. Quiet. All Ah want is an hour and a half." Her gaze turned to pleading innocence.

Shit. I could never deny her anything when she used that look, and she probably knew it.

"Fine." I growled.

Her face lit up, but I walked out the door before she could say anything. I wanted her to grow up, but not any of this independence shit. All the things she wanted to do, protect herself, drive, get a job—those were all things I should be doing for her.

"That's sexist." Marie said.

I paused with the door help open for her. Her gaze focused, and she blushed.

"Sorry, talking to the other yah. Ah didn't mean opening mah door for meh. That's chivalry."

"What's the difference?" I asked.

She opened her mouth and stopped, made a face, looked at her shoes, and then blushed again.

"We should hurry to make it to the movie on time." She finally mumbled, getting in the truck.

I snorted and slammed her door. She had her eyes closed and head tilted when I got in. I'd gotten used to her zoning out more often, and she hadn't said or asked anything about mates, so I'd also stopped worrying so much about what they were all talking about.

"Ah'm not trying to run off on mah own or steal yeh manly thunder." She said as we pulled up to the movie theater.

I grunted. I knew she was right, and I was just overreacting, but I couldn't help it. She needed me for everything right now, and it felt damn good to provide for her like that. One day she'd be a strong, fierce woman, and then what would she need me for?

She hugged me from the side. "Ah'm not gonna leave yah, sugah."

I hadn't even thought that yet, and she already knew what really scared me. I pulled her close and buried my nose in her hair, scenting her. There was nowhere she could go that I wouldn't find her. Not that I would force her to be with me, but I would always be near, watching out for her.

"Ah love yah." She whispered.

"Love ya too, kid." I muttered.

She pulled back and reached for the handle of her door. I grabbed a strand of hair and gently tugged to get her attention. She turned back around, and I pulled two twenties out of my waller. It was too much for one ticket, but I wanted her to have a little extra just in case.

"Oh. Right."

She took the money and kissed my cheek in return, hopping out of the truck. I watched until she was inside the theater, then continued to the bar where I planned on fighting tonight. Her movie ended before my fight, so she'd be walking the three blocks back to our motel from the theater.

After the sun had gone down.

Without me.

I stomped into the bar and skipped the Molsons, straight to the hard stuff. The bartender gave me a look, probably wondering why I was in here so early. Like I gave a shit about his opinion.

"Set the fight up early tonight." I demanded.

"It's not scheduled until midnight." He said.

"I got shit to do."

"None of the other fighters are here yet."

I shrugged. "So open up the cage to whoever. I'll be happy to beat the shit outta the regulars tomorrow."

He gave me another look, then finally shrugged back. I finished off my bottle while he announced it was open cage night. Anyone could challenge The King of the Cage tonight.

* * *

Twelve fights, five bottles, and one ambulance later, I was feeling a damn sight better. I'd worked off enough steam to feel more reasonable about giving Marie what she wanted. She really did need to learn to protect herself, and her and the Wolverine both were riding my ass about that promise I'd made. But like hell I was going to let him have all her time. I wanted to teach her something too, but that could wait until her birthday. Make a good present, so I wouldn't have to sweat picking one out.

I parked my truck in front of the theater and got out. Her movie still had another twenty minutes to go, but I needed a smoke break to get calmed down after the fight. Usually one glance at her big doe eyes calmed me down, but we'd both been pretty snappish lately, and I didn't want to accidentally fuck things up before I could tell her the news.

_About goddamn time._

I didn't bother with a reply to that. He sounded too damn happy about getting to see her. Almost made me feel sorry for the poor bastard.

Almost.

The theater doors opened up and people streamed out into the night. I smoked the last of my cigar and watched the crowd for her auburn hair. Marie didn't wear hers done up or in a ponytail. She kept it down and loose, just the way I liked it. I caught sight of her small frame weaving her way through the crowd, and I gave a long, loud wolf whistle. Several people jumped, and a couple of women glanced over. Marie's head perked up and she looked around until she spotted me. I took a last drag of my cigar, then flicked it underneath my boot as she walked over. Some people stared, but she didn't pay any attention to them and hugged me as soon as she got close.

"Ah thought yah had a fight tonight?" She asked.

"Wanted to make sure you got back safe." I replied. "Feel better now?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Ah jus' needed an hour or so."

Now that I'd cooled down some, I could understand that. I'd needed an hour or so myself. I worked my problems out by fighting. If all Marie wanted to do to blow off some steam was see a movie, I should be damn grateful. I'd heard on the news kids had started soaking tampons with vodka and shoving them up whatever hole they had to get drunk faster. Fucking humans.

"Hey kid..."

She looked up at me and started to reply, but a yawn caught her in the middle of it. She rubbed her eyes sleepily and leaned against my chest. She only stayed up this late when she was on her period or waiting on me, so it was past her bedtime.

At ten thirty.

Nah, my little Marie wouldn't do shit like that. Poor kid couldn't even make it to midnight. And between me and the Wolverine in her head, I hoped she knew better anyway.

"Get lots of sleep tonight. You got a big day tomorrow." I said.

"What's tomorrow?" She asked, trying to blink the sleep away.

"Lessons."

She blinked slowly again, then caught on. She squealed and practically bounced up and down in happiness. I tried to discreetly check out what all that bouncing did to her good bits, but she hugged me again before I could get a good look.

"Thank yah, thank yah, thank yah!"

* * *

_I woke the human up early in the morning. He bitched and moaned about the time, but handed full control over to me. I spent several minutes just watching my mate sleep. I remembered enough to know the human had put his voice inside her along with mine after she had her fit. I also knew these past two months had been difficult for her, having both of us in her head. _

_The human said she'd forgiven us, but this was the first time he'd really let me out since then. I took over during about a dozen fights, but he hadn't let me have my time with her afterward. The only time I'd gotten to see my mate was through the bars of a cage._

_And while I had been locked up, my little kitling had grown. I looked her over and barely suppressed a growl of appreciation. I didn't approve of her new sleeping clothes though, those pajamas that covered her from wrist to ankle. I wanted to see her clothed in just my shirt again. But I couldn't remember how she looked then without also remembering her screaming and begging me to stop. Even I had to admit the human's method of _talking_ was probably better for her than my discipline had been._

_So as much as I wanted to nuzzle and pet my mate, I got up instead. Logically, I knew she had only gotten so upset because she was worried about her skin, but it still felt like rejection. And I didn't ever want to scare my mate like that again._

_I took a piss, then returned to my mate. She still hadn't woken up. Even though she usually rose before the human, I preferred to rise at dawn, much earlier than she was used to. I knelt at the side of the bed and shook her shoulder. She whined and shied away._

"Kitling."

"Ohmahgawd, shuddup."

_I growled lowly at that. She opened her eyes and jumped when she saw me, bolting upright._

"Wolverine!" _She threw herself at me and wrapped her arms around my neck. _"It's really yah!"

"Who the fuck else did you think it would be?" _I growled._

_She pulled back a bit to explain. _"Yah an' Logan argue in mah head **all** the time. Ah'm sorry Wolvie, Ah knew it was yah, Ah jus' didn't know it was really yah."

_I relaxed and rubbed my cheek against hers. _"S'alright, kit."

_She let go of me to yawn and stretch, and I looked her over with approval. Her pajamas might cover more than I wanted, but they couldn't hide how my kitling had grown. She noticed me watching and dropped her arms. I braced myself for her to be offended or scared again, but she moved closer instead._

"Ah'm sorry." _She said._

_I didn't understand. Did she not know that my nuzzling had been forgiveness? If anything, the human should still be apologizing to her for putting his voice in her head. Hell, I had some apologizing to do myself. My Marie-mate was the only one I would do that for._

"Ah didn't mean to freak out on yah so bad like that. Ah wasn't scared because of yah, Ah was scared because of meh. An' Ah'm really sorry Logan got so mad at yah. It wasn't yeh fault."

_She looked at me with wide eyes after her little speech, biting her lip and playing with the hem of her shirt._

_I sighed. _"Yeah, kit. It was."

_She tried to talk back, but I spoke over her._

"You'd already learned what you needed to, and I didn't need to embarrass or hurt you like that afterward. I shouldn't have touched your skin without your permission either."

_She made a small _Oh_ at that. I leaned closer so she had to look me in the eyes._

"I don't give a rat's ass about what your skin does." _I told her. _"And I'm not scared of it, but you are. That's alright. My human's still afraid of me and our claws. But you're just going to have to learn to deal with it. Until you feel more comfortable though, I'll show your skin the same respect you show my claws."

_She hugged me again, pressing her face into my neck. I wrapped my arms around her while she raised her head to whisper in my ear, _"Ah like when yah touch meh."

_Fuck. Did she even know what she fucking did to me? Between the two of us in her head, one of them had to say something...or maybe they stayed just as quiet about it as I did. When I first found out about my voice in her head, I thought she'd get all of my thoughts—the anger, the disgust at humans, all the different ways I wanted to press inside her and fill her with my seed. But she couldn't have gotten any of that, otherwise she would have thrown a screaming fit a long time ago. _

_It might even make sense that my voice was tamer in her head. It was her mind after all. I acted completely differently around her than I did when I was trapped in the human's mind. I even talked differently for her. So maybe her mind had calmed my voice, and the human's too._

_It must be nice to be inside her like that._

_I felt my claws flex in my hands, but I forced them to stay still. I would not be jealous of my own goddamn self. Even though the me in her head never got locked up or ignored..._

_My Marie-mate sat back again and looked at her hands. I could tell she was trying to get her thoughts together, but I didn't like not being the center of her attention. I was her Alpha, and she should look at me. I lifted her chin, and she looked into my eyes again._

"Ah mean it. Ah like that yeh not scared, an' Ah likecuddling with yah. It's nice to have a friend." _She gave me a shy smile. _"It's jus' when Ah get scared, worrying that yah might touch meh and get hurt makes it a lot worse."

"I don't cuddle."

_She blinked. _"Yes yah do."

"I might nuzzle and scent mark you, even pet you, but I do **not** cuddle." _I corrected her._

_She grinned. _"Yah totally cuddle."

"Kit—"

"But only with meh, an' Ah like it, an' Ah promise Ah won't ever tell anyone." _She said, giving me what the human called _The Look_._

_As Alpha, her look didn't affect me the way it did the human. But if _cuddling_ got me close to my mate and she liked it..._

"Not a goddamn soul." _I growled._

**Heh. You cuddle.**

Ya let her paint yer toenails.

**...we agreed not to talk about that.**

"Promise." _She nodded eagerly._ "Are yah gonna teach meh to fight today?"

"Yeah. By the end of the day, you'll know how to throw a punch, disarm a man, and do a backflip." _I said._

_Her eyes had gotten wider and wider until the part about the backflip, and then she leaned back and looked at me suspiciously._

"Really?"

_I laughed._ "No. I'm going to teach you how to stand. Get up and get changed."

_She huffed and pouted for a moment, but got out of bed. I ruffled her hair as she passed and waited while she went into the bathroom with her clothes. When she accepted me as her mate, I would groom her every morning and there wouldn't be any doors hiding her from me. We would do all of our grooming in front of each other. Only humans were so ashamed of their bodies they had to create clothes and doors. _

_I changed while I waited for her and leaned against the door. She was taking too long. I heard water running and pounded on the door. My mate shuffled around inside, then opened it, peeking out at me with only a thin white towel wrapped around herself. I swallowed hard._

**Her eyes are up there, bub.**

"I only told you to change." _I managed to say, forcing myself to keep my eyes on her face._

_She frowned._ "But Ah need to shower. Mah hair—"

"You can do that after your lesson. There's no point grooming yourself if you're just going to get dirty again." _I said._

"How am Ah going to get dirty?" _She asked._ "All Ah'm doing is standing."

_I snorted._ "And you're shit at it, so you're going to fall down a lot."

"But I—"

"Kitling." _I said._ "Please put your clothes on."

_Before I rip that towel off..._

**Down boy.**

Go back to sleep.

_She gave me a bit of a look, but she closed the door and came back out fully dressed a moment later. I placed my hand on her back and guided her out to the human's truck. She looked at me strangely again when I held her door open for her. I drove us out of the small human settlement and onto a backroad while my Marie-mate caught me up on what had happened over the last two months._

_The human had smuggled her back across the border, and we were in Canada again. I'd recognized our birthland the moment I stepped outside, but I enjoyed listening to my mate chatter about the trip up. She'd started watching movies more often to tune out our voices, which I didn't blame her for. Apparently, reading didn't keep us as occupied as actually watching something. She didn't understand why the human never wanted to see one with her, and I explained it was too much for our senses. Sounds too loud, lights too bright in the dark, too many people crowded into one room._

_We pulled into a clearing in the middle of the woods. The road leading to it was more of a trail than an actual road, one that a human wouldn't spot unless he was looking for it. My human and I had used this place for some jobs in the past. It was a nice place to have a talk with someone where their screaming wouldn't bother anyone._

_But my mate didn't need to know about that. And she was too busy asking questions about her fighting lesson to ask any questions about why I knew where a place like this was._

"How am Ah bad at standing? What does that have to do with fighting? Why—"

_I slammed her door shut behind her and pulled her close. She didn't show any signs of stopping though, so I growled into her ear. She immediately went quiet and bared her neck in submission. I gave her a growl of approval and only nipped her neck lightly. Her skin was fair enough that it still left a mark, and I contented myself with that instead of really sinking my teeth in like I wanted._

_I let go of her but didn't step back. _"I can only answer one question at a time, kit."

_She nodded._ "Sorry. Ah'll try to let yah do yeh teaching thing before Ah start spouting off questions."

"Good."_ I gave her a last nuzzle and guided her into the clearing._

_I positioned her to stand near the middle, then moved back away from her a few feet. I stood still and watched her, letting the silence drag on for a full minute while I studied the stance she'd naturally assumed. It was undeniably submissive, although not the fearful one she had when I first saw her. _

_She stood with her feet close together, ankles almost touching. Her shoulders were stopped, and she pressed her palms flat against her legs._

"How am I standing?" _I asked her, then continued when she gave me a blank stare._ "How do I look?"

"Dominant." _She answered._

_I smirked slightly. Damn straight, kitling._

"Why? Describe it."

_She faltered for a second, looking me over hesitantly._ "Yeh leaning backwards. Um, yeh feet are farther apart. Yeh back is straight."

_She subconsciously corrected her stance to mirror mine as she described it out loud. Her back straightened out of its slouch and her feet moved apart._

"I look like I'm leaning back because my weight is on the balls of my feet."_ I said, leaning even further back to make it more obvious._

_She mimicked me and shifted her weight back._

"It's easier to stay balanced this way. Keep your arms loose." _I ordered._ "Lift your chin. Look at me, not your feet. Put your shoulders back."

_I stalked closer to her with each order, circling around her to inspect her stance again. It was much better now, although such a dominant pose still looked stiff and unnatural on her._

"You're my Alpha female, and you need to show confidence and strength." _I said, stopping in front of her._ "You damn well have the power to back it up."

**Knocked us right on our ass. Heh. **

_She winced. _"But that's not meh. Ah don't even like mah skin. An' in that fight with May, Ah wanted to run an' get away, not hurt her. Mah instincts are flight, not fight."

"Fake it." _I advised._

"What?"

"If you act like prey, predators will hunt you. That's life." _I told her._ "So don't act like prey. Just showing people you're not afraid of them will stop most fights, even if you're faking it."

"But what about in a real fight?" _She asked._

"Then you can run and come to me. But I want you to be able to defend yourself until I get there." _I replied._

"Okay." _She paused, then grinned a little._ "...so can we move on to advanced standing?"

_I crossed my arms and indulged her with a grin in return._ "Whatcha got in mind, kit?"

"Like..." _She stopped again and scrunched her face up in concentration._ "Balancing on really high sticks over some rapids."

"I will never let you do that."

_She looked so disappointed._ "But—"

"Hell no."

"Ple—"

"You've been watching too many movies, kitling." _I said._

"Wax on, wax off." _She mumbled._

_I raised an eyebrow._

_She blushed and changed the subject._ "So am Ah jus' gonna stand here all day?"

"No." _She looked relieved until I added,_ "You're going to stand like this from now on, wherever you go. No more slouching."

_She let out a loud, long groan of frustration, even swinging her arms back and forth a little, like a very small kitling throwing a tantrum._

"Okay, sorry. Ah jus' had to get that out of my system." _She said, taking a deep breath._ "Ah actually used to have very good posture. Mah mama always made me sit up straight _like a lady, _but Ah threw all that out the door after they threw meh out theirs."

_A quick side trip to Mississippi was looking better and better. But their loss was my fucking gain. And as much as I wanted to kill her parents for what they did to her, I probably owed them some thanks too. If they hadn't been such shit people and thrown her out, I might have never found my mate. Or even worse, found her too late. I could handle finding her too soon and waiting on her to grow up. I was even glad for the chance to protect and watch over my little mate while she grew. But I couldn't stand the thought of not finding her until she was already mated to someone else or old and dying._

"Is there anything else yah gonna show meh?" S_he asked, snapping me out of my thoughts._

_My gaze focused on her again._ "How to stay on your feet when someone attacks you. Never let someone pin you beneath them. Nine times out of ten, the fight is over once that happens."

_She nodded dutifully, but I wasn't finished with my lecture._

"And if someone does get you pinned, use your skin. You can deal with the fallout afterward, when you're with me and **still alive**." _I growled the last two words to get it through to her._

_My mate didn't look happy about it, but she nodded again._

"I'm going to pretend to attack you. I'll be real careful kit, but you're still going to get knocked down and bruised up." _I said, watching her closely for her reaction._

_She snorted._ "Ah'm not stupid, Wolverine. Ah know why yeh doing this, an' Ah know Ah'm gonna feel like sh—crap in the morning."

_I waited, and she winced._

"Sorry. Logan says Ah'm not allowed to swear." _She explained._

"You can swear, just don't cuss at us." _I replied._

_She started to say something, but I shoved her. She overbalanced immediately and fell straight back on her ass. I offered her my hand and pulled her back to her feet._

"Ah wasn't ready." _She huffed._

"Always be ready."

_She opened her mouth again, and I shoved her again. She at least tried to catch herself this time, but she did it by grabbing for me. I stepped back and let her fall at my feet, then hauled her back up._

"You can't reach for me. I'm your attacker." _I scolded._

_She made a face at me, but resumed her stance and watched me closely this time._

"Chin up, feet apart."

_She corrected herself, looking to me for approval. I shoved her. I was only using a fraction of my strength, just enough to throw her off balance, not actually hurt her. She stumbled back but caught herself this time. I reached out and pushed on her shoulder again, but she rocked back on her heels and absorbed it, staying upright. I rewarded her with a low growl of approval. Her smile quickly faded when I started circling around her, and she craned her head to keep me in sight._

_I pushed her right between her shoulder blades, and she fell to her hands and knees. I let her get up on her own and moved over to her side, just barely in her peripherals. I shoved against her arm, and she stumbled to the side. She managed to stay upright again, although her stumbling motion turned her around to face away from me. I moved forward to push her back again, but she turned to the side at the last second. My hand went past her, side stepped up close to me. Her hand came up, but I easily caught it in mine before she could hit me._

"Don't bother with slaps." _I lectured._ "I'll teach you how to punch another day."

_She only grinned. _"Not what I was going for, Wolvie."

_She wiggled her fingers in my grip, and I looked over at our hands. I had hers in a firm hold that she couldn't get out of, but why would she need to when all she had to do was turn on her skin?_

**Checkmate, asshole. Our little Marie got one over on you!** _The human informed me smugly._

_I laughed and tugged her even closer, nuzzling into her hair and purring out my approval. My mate was clever, on top of everything else. She hummed with pleasure, still subconsciously trying to mimic me. I released her, and she stepped back with a grin._

"How are things going with yah an' Logan?"

_I kept my eyes on her as she took up a proper fighting stance again._ "I stay away from his time, and he stays away from mine."

"What made him finally change his mind about the lessons?" _She asked as we circled each other._

"He wanted to do something special for the anniversary of the day we met." _I said._

_Her eyes widened, and she paused in distraction. I took the opportunity to shove her while her concentration was broke, and she fell hard on her side._

"Concentrate. Always be ready."

"Time out." _She gasped._

_If this were a real attack, there wouldn't be any timeouts. But my mate was still just a kitling, and I had woken her early, so I nodded and called a break. She flopped down on her back and groaned._

"Ah think Ah landed on a rock."

_I couldn't smell any blood, so she was only bruised. But I still sat down and lifted her into my lap. She curled up against my chest and relaxed._

"Really?" _She asked in a small voice after a minute._

"No." _I admitted._ "The human doesn't even know what day of the week it is, and he sure as hell doesn't know today is special."

**Every day with our mate is fucking special. **

_She looked up at me._ "How do you know?"

"Because I'm not a stupid fuck up."

**Why do we have to treat one stupid fucking day like it's different?! **

_She narrowed her eyes._ "Don't be mean. Logan's jus'..."

Because it's important to her, and she's the best goddamn thing to ever happen in our miserable life.

**...well, she's ours now, and that's all there is to it.**

"A stupid fuck up." _I repeated._ "He can't remember dates worth shit, he runs away from all his problems, and he's too much of a pussy to really talk to you about his feelings."

**Up yours too, bub.**

We share a body, moron.

**Bitch.**

Chicken shit.

"Real men talk about their feelings?"

_I looked back down at my mate and focused on her. _"They're not afraid to speak their mind. But don't worry, kitling. I'll do all that for him. You'll never need anyone else but us."

_She shook her head._ "No, Ah don't need yah."

_I went completely still. My heart might even have stopped beating. It had been long enough that I had grown soft and stopped expecting rejection from my mate. I should have known better._

**Shit, shit, shit! I knew this would fucking happen!**

"Ah'm not saying Ah'm not grateful or that mah life wouldn't be infinitely harder without yah." _She continued._ "But Ah survived for six months on the road by mahself. Hell, if Ah had to, Ah could jus' go to a shelter."

**What the fuck are you doing?! Say something and FIX IT!**

"Kit—"

"But Ah stayed with yah because Ah wanted a friend, an' yah were a mutant too, an' yah helped meh an were decent to meh when yah didn't have to." _She placed her hand on my cheek and smiled up at me._ "Ah love yah. Ah'm not here because Ah don't have other options. Ah'm here because Ah want to be, an' Ah will always, always love yah."

_I dipped my head down and rested my cheek against her shoulder. Her mark was right next to my lips and her hair fell around my face, surrounding me with her scent. I wasn't sure which one of us was holding the other. Maybe we were just holding each other. Even the human went silent in my head, although he still didn't quite believe her. Neither of us believed that she was sticking around with a man who had nothing but his dick and his claws and a homicidal animal locked in his mind because she _loved us_. She stayed with us because we provided for her._

"Always. Because Ah love yah." _She whispered, running her tiny hands through my hair and over my back._

"When you're twenty?" _I asked, finally voicing our unspoken fear._

"Ah'll jus' smuggle yah into mah college dorm."_ She replied._ "Ah'll be the coolest girl on campus an' definitely the most badass."

_I breathed in deep and closed my eyes. I didn't want her to go to college or have a life of her own._

**She won't stay if we cling too close.**

_The human knew that all too well. He always ran the moment a woman tried to sink her own set of claws into us. I didn't want to suffocate our mate like that, but I didn't want to share her with anyone else either._

"All the sorority girls will be jealous, an' the teachers will be scandalized, an' mah roommate will jus' have to deal with yah sleeping over." _She said._

"Still be mine?" _I muttered against the mark on her skin._

"Always." _She promised again._ "Ah'll smuggle yah into mah nursing home too, when Ah'm eighty. Ah'll be yeh best friend as long as Ah live."

_I gritted my teeth. I didn't want to fucking think about her being eighty. Her dying. At least she'd let us stay with her until then. And even if her body failed and grew frail, even if all we could have from her in those last years was her friendship, that's all we had now and it was still the most precious thing we'd ever had._

**She can't leave us...can't live without her.**

_I had my own plans on how to keep her with us forever. She'd already taken us in twice and had both of our voices in her head, without seeming to be hurt by it. So if she could take our voices, maybe her skin could take our healing. Just a few, little touches spaced out along the months or years. Maybe it wouldn't be forever, but if we could give her even a few more decades..._

"And you'll always be the most important thing in the world to us." _I told her._

_Her head jerked up and she blushed like she hadn't expected that. Like she didn't already know how much we loved her. That's why the human was a stupid fuck up. If I stayed in full control, I would tell her that every day and never let her doubt how important she was. Instead, I had to settle for the few hours I got with her every once in a while to tell her all the things the human couldn't or didn't know how to say._

_I rose and picked her up with me, setting her back on her feet. She leaned against me for a moment before she stood on her own, with the posture I'd shown her. My little mate was a fast learner. I bumped her chin up a bit more with my knuckles and grinned at her._

"Break's over, kit. I gotta lot more to teach ya."

* * *

**A/N: *hides in a corner and sobs hysterically over the fictional romance of the fictional characters I'm writing* Seriously though, sometimes I write so much fluff I just can't even handle it anymore.**

**And for everyone who said they didn't mind the length of this (now wildly out of hand) story/novel, thank you so much! It's nice to know you love me and are willing to put up with me for a long time more. HUGS! \(=^-^=)/ **

**On another note, Marie is finally starting to crush on Logan/Wolverine! I'm going to try to do six more chapters covering October, February, June, October, December, and January. So we'll be skipping ahead lots and moving forward really quickly, and by the end of it, Marie will be sixteen and they'll be one their way to the mansion. And since Marie will be aging so quickly (she'll be fifteen next chapter and sixteen in another three), I'm going to try to have lots of fluffy moments to kick up her feelings for Logan from love to _in love_.**

**Coming up next: "Ah don't know how to...Ah've never done this before."**

"**Just relax. I'll tell you what to do."**

"**Ah didn't even know they could look like this! Where do Ah...?"**

"**Wrap your hand around the base."**

"**Like this?"**

"**Jesus Marie, tighter..."**


	28. Southern Comfort

**OCTOBER**

* * *

It's Marie's birthday, but I haven't done anything for her yet. I knew she expected me to take her out somewhere the way I did last year, and I could smell the disappointment in her scent when I pulled into the back of the parking lot of the Real Canadian Superstore. It didn't show on her face though, and she started tugging on her gloves as I got out and walked around the truck. I opened her door for her, and she hopped out and walked toward the superstore.

"Marie!" I called.

She turned around, and I tossed my keys to her. She stood motionless while they hit the ground.

"What'd yah do that for?" She asked.

"You were supposed to catch them..."

"A warning woulda been nice." She grumbled, stooping to pick them up.

I shook my head when she offered them back to me. "You're learning how to drive today."

Her face lit up, then fell. "But what if Ah hurt yeh baby?"

"You're my baby." I blurted out.

_'Cause that wasn't creepy at all._

Her hesitant look lingered for a moment, and then she hugged me. I hugged her back and hoped she didn't feel my sigh of relief that she liked her present.

"I'll rent us a cabin for the next two months or so, and you can take a driver's ed course. But first, I'm gonna teach you to drive a stick." I said.

She looked up. "Then Ah can get mah license when Ah'm sixteen, right?"

"Yeah, but we'll worry about that next year." I replied.

She would need her birth certificate and social security card to get a license or a passport. I could get her fake papers, but it pissed me off that I would have to deal with that bullshit when her parents probably had them locked up in Mississippi. Maybe I should take a trip back down to the States, get her emancipated, gut her parents...but that was something I could talk to her about some other time. Her sixteenth birthday maybe.

Hey kid, I sorta lost my shit and killed your parents. Happy birthday! Wanna get some burgers?

"Logan?"

I blinked and tried to give her a grin. "Hop in, kid."

She gave me one last squeeze, then let go and let me guide her over to the driver's side. I held the door open and stooped a bit so I could see her as she got in and buckled her seatbelt.

I chuckled. "You're not gonna need that right now, but A for safety, kid. You don't get to start the truck until you show me you know how to shift."

"Yeah, okay." She set the keys in the cup holder.

I expected her to be disappointed that she had to wait, but instead she actually looked relieved. And she was glancing around the inside of the truck like she'd never seen it before.

"First thing you gotta know about driving stick is the clutch. You can just put an automatic in drive or reverse, but a stick shift has a lot more gears than that, and you can't shift into any of them without hitting the clutch." I explained, pointing out where the clutch was to her.

The nervousness in her scent started to fade, but she still bit her lip and gave the clutch an anxious look. She wasn't just learning to drive, she was starting out by learning to drive a stick, so I supposed she had the right to look nervous. But if she could get this down, she could drive anything.

"At the same time you hit the clutch, you also gotta brake and shift your gear. I know it's a lot to think about, but you need to get the timing down or the engine will stall and the gears will grind." I continued.

"An' the transmission will blow, an' Ah'll lose control of the truck, an' we'll careen off a bridge into a lake, an' we'll both drown in the freezing water. Right. No pressure." She muttered.

"Breathe, kid. Stick is hard. Everybody fucks it up at first." I said.

_She can get our stick hard and fuck it up any day._

_**Telling her that ain't exactly gonna be reassuring, bub.**_

The Wolverine heaved a dramatic sigh and settled back down in my mind. I looked back at Marie, and she pursed her lips.

"So I need to use my left foot for the clutch, and my right foot for the gas _and _brake?" She asked.

"Yes." I answered. "Pretend like you're driving and try it out."

Just doing it would help her way more than anything I could say, and I could help her fix mistakes as she made them. But Marie gave the cab another look around like I'd set her down in the middle of an alien spaceship.

"Ah don't know how to...Ah've never done this before."

"Just relax. I'll tell you what to do." I reassured her.

She looked at the gear shift like it would bite her. "Ah didn't even know they could look like this! Where do Ah...?"

"Wrap your hand around the base."

"Like this?" She barely touched it, holding it in a grip weaker than American beer.

I rolled my eyes. "Jesus Marie, tighter..."

_Heh. Tell her to tug on it a bit too._

She made a choked noise and blushed so hard that for a second, I thought she actually heard him.

"Ohmahgawd, Wolvie! Can yah jus' quit perving for five minutes? Logan an' Ah are trying to have a serious conversation!" She complained.

Shit, had she? But she looked at me and blinked like she just realized she said that out loud.

"Ah'm so sorry, he jus' says things like that sometimes." She said.

_I'm not a pervert, I'm yer mate...goddammit..._

"You don't have to apologize for his shit, kid." I muttered.

Her blush stayed, but she smiled a bit and mumbled, "Jerk it, twist it, turn it, bop it..."

I stared at her. "What?"

_Can ya jest do the first one?_

_**She told you to shut up, pervert.**_

"It's an old toy from the nineties." She explained with a grin. "It had all these lights and buttons and knobs, and you had to do certain actions in a specific order."

"...don't ever do that to a man's penis. Actually, if a man ever shows you his penis, tell me and I'll cut it off for you." I growled.

_Cut off both his heads..._

She laughed. "Glad to see you're adjusting so well to me growing up."

I gave another uneasy growl, but she just returned it with a mischievous grin.

"So now that we have that out of our system..." She trailed off and looked back at the gear shift. "I just shift gears like this?"

She pulled the gear all the way back to fourth. I shook my head and covered her hand with mine, moving it back to first gear for her.

"You won't be going over second gear today." I said.

I helped her shift gears a few more times until she got the hang of it and could do it by herself. She started to look more confident, so I told her to try working the brake and clutch too. She took a deep breath and hit both while shifting to first. There was a half second delay in between the two, but it was a good first effort.

"Okay, now press on the gas and pretend to drive until I tell you to shift." I instructed.

She put her hands on the steering wheel and pretended to drive for a moment. I waited to let her get into it, and she really did, twisting the steering wheel back and forth and making vrooming noises. I smirked and watched her until she glanced up at me and abruptly stopped. I raised my eyebrow at her, and she looked even fucking cuter when she blushed.

"Um...I mean...I'm an adult...?" She half stated, half asked.

_Now who's perving on the kid?_

"Sure...shift." I replied, ignoring the Wolverine.

She pressed on the brake and clutch, but nearly forgot to shift and had to look at the gearshift to do it. The engine probably would've stalled for a bit, and her eyes would've been off the road too. She put her hand right back on the steering wheel and kept "driving" though. I had almost expected her to stop and look at me for approval, and I didn't know if I was proud or disappointed she didn't.

I waited for another thirty seconds and told her to shift again. She did a little better that time, but the third time she got confused and accidentally hit the gas instead of the clutch. At least I hadn't let her start the truck yet. She gradually got better at it though, and within an hour of practice, she could shift relatively smoothly.

I finally got in the passenger's side and let her start the truck so she could just drive around in circles for a bit. I told her to start it up and shift, but she forgot to depress the clutch, and the truck jerked and groaned before it started moving. I grabbed the door handle and breathed out through my nose.

"Sorry." She mumbled.

"S'okay kid." I said through gritted teeth.

She tried two more times to shift and got worse each time. The second time she pressed the gas too hard by mistake again and almost hit a parked truck.

"Hey, you stupid bitch!" The owner shouted, running up to his truck. "Why don't you watch the road with your eyes and not your cunt before you—"

I got out of the truck.

"—hit a bad patch of ice. Drive safe now, eh?" He finished, quickly getting into his truck.

I sneered and considered beating the shit out of him anyway just on principle, but I saw Marie scoot over to the passenger's side and curl up against the door. She was making herself smaller, like a scared little rabbit. The Wolverine snarled in my mind, demanding that we protect our mate and break some bones. I got back inside my truck instead and reached for Marie. She let me pull her into my lap, although she kept her head down.

"Relax, kid. Everyone sucks at first. Want me to go break his arm?" I asked.

_That's what ya should be doin' right now!_

But she clutched my jacket and shook her head. "No, don't...go."

_**HAH! She wants hugs, not heads on sticks.**_

"Ah'm sorry...Ah jus' don't wanna hurt yeh truck an'-"

I snorted. "I don't give a fuck about the goddamn truck. I just want you to be happy on your birthday, so if there's something else you want...I'm not good at this gift giving thing, kid."

"No, yeh wonderful!" She said, looking up at me with wide eyes. "Ah know how much it means that yeh helping me learn to drive. Yeh gifts are always really thoughtful."

I was thoughtful? Shit, that was news to me. That one redhead had said I was the least romantic man she'd ever met, and I should be thankful I had a big cock. Not that I really cared about her from the neck up, not even fucking close to the way I loved Marie, but I never thought I'd figure out how to do shit that women thought was "thoughtful." Then again, Marie might just be biased, having me and the Wolverine in her head.

"Uh...right."

She looked better than she did a minute ago, and she hadn't started crying despite that asshole's comments, so I decided to change the subject.

"How about we get some groceries for the cabin?" I asked it as a question, so she could say no if she wanted to stay in the truck.

But she perked up a bit more and nodded. "Yeah."

* * *

"Move yer ass, runt!"

I'm out of control. The animal howls in my mind, surging forward and taking over. Claws slide in deep. A woman's stomach. She drops a detonator. Probably has explosives hidden beneath her baggy dress. Could've just knocked her out. Animal didn't care. Threat eliminated.

More enemies swarming into the street. Don't know who's civilian or enemy. Only know which are allies because they know to stay the fuck away from me. Only enemies dare to get close.

Wait, shit—had she reached for help? No knife in her hand...hand lying in the ground. Sliced straight through her arm. Too much blood. Didn't mean to. Maybe I can at least make it quick—burning in my gut. There's the knife.

"What did I fucking tell you, runt?!"

Her head hits the ground.

"There. Nothing fer ya t'get distracted over. Now MOVE. YER. ASS!"

Who the fuck did he think he was to give me orders? But my feet move anyway, my head bowed in submissive shame. Who was he? Try to turn my head. Movement at our feet catches my eye. Grenade. Shit.

Explosion knocks me off my feet, but it comes from my left. Different grenade. Can't feel legs. Numbness in my lower back. Spine probably all fucked to hell. Can't move. Enemies still shouting, getting closer.

Lifted. Slung over a shoulder. Get a good view of a tattered uniform, nearly burned off. One hand holds me over his shoulder. Other hand holds his guts in. Must've dived on the grenade. Carrying me away from enemies though. His stomach is healing, skin and organs knitting themselves back together.

We stop. Take cover behind some rubble. Hit the ground. Face pressed in the dirt, ass up. Hear the slick, wet sound of metal sliding through skin. Piece of bloody shrapnel hits the ground by my face. Numbness in my lower back abruptly disappears, replaced by burning pain. Can feel legs again. They hurt.

"Get up."

"Hurt..."

"It don't hurt that bad. Get the fuck up."

It does hurt that bad. Shrapnel in my legs. Hear enemies shouts again. Don't have time to pull it all out. Try to stand. Blood gushes into my boots. Look down. Left foot half gone. Retch.

"Shouldn't-nah looked."

Retch more.

"Aw, fer fuck's sake."

Lifted again. Carried. Retreating back to our foxhole filled with mud and damp and sick.

"Things I do fer ya, runt..."

* * *

I woke up with a gasp, and immediately leaned over the side of the bed and dry heaved. I sat back up and wiped the spittle from my mouth, then flinched when I realized someone was laying next to me. My claws half slid out, but Marie's scent hit me, and I forced them back in with a shudder. I should get away from her right now. My head hurt, and I could still feel the adrenaline pounding in my ears. But I didn't want to be alone.

I laid back down and carefully slipped my arms around her, barely even touching her. I just wanted...she sighed happily in her sleep and craned her neck to the side. The moonlight showed off the slight bruise the Wolverine had left there as a mark after her last fighting lesson.

_Marie-mate will make it better. Want her touch. She touches us nice._

The Wolverine whined, and as disgusted as I was with him—and myself—after the nightmare, I pulled her closer. She made another soft noise and willingly wiggled back so she was pressed up against me. I buried my face in her hair and breathed in her scent. She smelled so good and sweet. Her scent chased off the lingering memories of the smell of blood and smoke.

She moaned quietly, and I realized the arm I had beneath her had curled up to rub over her stomach and my other hand was rubbing down her side and over her hip. But _fuck_, I couldn't stop myself. I had to know she was alive and still with me. I raised my hand higher, brushing against the underside of her breasts, and the next noise she made was nearly a whimper. I gritted my teeth and tried to force my hand back down, but she stuck her chest out, chasing my hand. The motion caused her hips to move back too, pressing against my crotch.

_She wants it, just make her come once, take care of her..._

_**She can't want it if she's unconscious!**_

But I didn't let go. The best I could manage was to keep my hand where it already was and not grope her. She couldn't say yes if she wasn't awake, only yes means yes, she's too young, she trusts us—

I tore myself away, and I swear I could have walked away, straight out the door to someplace where I could take a breath without smelling her arousal. But she made another whimper that was almost sob and reached back behind her, reaching for me, and I could never deny her anything. I tried to tell myself I was doing it for her, but the truth was, that last whimper broke me.

I slid back into bed and yanked her back against me, one hand firmly grasping her hip and the other finally cupping one of her tits. She twisted her head around, her temple pressing into my chest, but her eyes remained shut. I flicked a thumb across her nipple, and her mouth dropped open in a gasp as it hardened.

_That's right, Marie-mate—_

I slammed the Wolverine back into his cage while he was distracted by her. Marie was my mate, and I wasn't sharing her with anyone, least of all him. She arched her chest back up and whined again, begging for more attention. I gave it to her with a growl, pulling her hips tighter against mine while I switched over and flicked her other nipple too. She moved her hips clumsily, and I slid my hand down to grip her thigh and lift her leg up over my own. My cock slid in between her legs, restrained only by my sweatpants and her damp little panties.

Her scent filled my mind, making my head spin and my cock twitch against her. She started moaning freely, and I guided her hips as I panted into her neck.

"Just like that, darling." I groaned when she caught on the rhythm.

I could feel her wetness seeping through her panties and onto my sweats, and I forced her hips down harder. She made another sobbing noise, desperately grinding against me.

"Gonna take care of you."

I angled my thrusts up, deliberately causing her panties to rub against her clit. She gasped so loud I almost thought she woke up, but I was too far gone to care either way. And she kept writhing in my arms, making the sweetest noises I'd ever heard. Her scent changed, and I knew she was getting close. My cock throbbed at the thought, but I had to take care of her first.

"That's it, little girl." I had to grip the sheets so I wouldn't leave bruises. "So close."

Her moans turned to pants, and her hips lost their rhythm entirely as she gasped, holding her breath. I thrusted even faster, growling and snarling into her neck. She let her breath out with a mewl, making soft noises of relief and satisfaction as her wetness gushed between her legs, enough that I could feel it soaking my sweats and on my cock.

"That's right Marie, you fucking come for me." I ground out.

I brought her down slow, drawing out her pleasure as long as I could. My head spun and my cock throbbed and I could barely keep it together.

"Good little girl, my darling, you're so good."

I didn't even know what I was saying, I wanted to come so bad. But she _was_ a good girl, barely more than a child, and she didn't deserve to be molested in her sleep. I'd taken care of her and made her come, and I would damn well have to be content with that.

I made a noise that was half a groan and half a whimper as I moved as far away from her as the bed would allow. She reached for me again, and I shoved our shared pillow at her. She gave a disappointed whine, but accepted it and curled around it, her breathing deepening as she sunk deeper into sleep. I thought about getting up, but I didn't think I could stand. My whole body was shaking. I took deep breaths through my mouth so I wouldn't have to smell her and tried to calm down.

How was I supposed to explain this to her? She might not have woken up, but she would sure as hell remember having a wet dream in the morning. She'd better fucking remember the way I made her come. But even if she didn't remember, she'd figure it out when she woke up in the morning and her panties were soaked. Would she believe I kept my hands to myself and just didn't notice?

Nah, that sounded stupid even to me. Maybe I could just explain to her that I had a nightmare and then her moaning set me off, and I was forced by instinct to make her come.

No, that was even worse. Maybe I could—I blinked in sudden realization and backed up to the part about the nightmare. I didn't notice her wet dream because I was having a nightmare. Shit, half of that was even true. I was a goddamn genius!

I sat up and made sure the blanket hid my still raging hard on. As long as I could smell her, that wouldn't be going away any time soon. I popped my claws, took a deep breath, and let out a roar. Marie didn't even jump, just sat up sleepily and reached for me.

"S'alrah-ght, sugah." She mumbled.

I let her touch my arm and tried to ignore the sparks of heat it sent straight to my cock. She scooted closer like she was going to crawl into my lap, and I saw the exact moment she realized something was wrong. Her eyes widened and a blush threatened to spread, but she tried hard to keep her composure.

"A-Are yah okay?" She stuttered.

"Yeah, just a little..." I looked down at my hands and slid my claws back in. "I didn't touch ya or nuthin', did I?"

She shook her head furiously. "No! Not—Ah...Ah gotta to to the bathroom real bad..."

"Yeah." I immediately agreed. "I need a few minutes to calm down anyway."

She nodded and gingerly got out of bed. I tried not to be too obvious watching, but the second she closed the bathroom door, I shoved my sheets and sweats down and wrapped my hand around my cock. My eyes nearly rolled back in my head when I felt it was still slick from when she'd came against me. Minutes was an exaggeration. Between her scent still hanging in the air and the memory of her falling apart in my arms, I barely needed thirty seconds before I came, biting down on my hand so she wouldn't hear.

I panted, chest heaving for air and body shaking again. I'd come harder from that than with any barfly, and Marie wasn't even in the fucking room. And I'd made a mess all over the sheets. I really hadn't thought that through. I grabbed some kleenexes in desperation and tried to wipe up the worst of it, then rearranged the sheets so she wouldn't see the stains. I spent the next two minutes just trying to remember how to breathe as the guilt started to kick in. I was a dirty old pervert and that probably counted as statutory rape.

But she never needed to know.

Ever.

* * *

**A/N: And ya'll motherfuckers thought there wasn't going to be smut! You were all like, it's not going to happen, see it's just the gear shift, there's no—BAM! SMUT, MY LOVELY BITCHES!**

***screams in bloody triumph***

**Sorry, got a little overexcited there. The only person who's been more impatient for them to get it on than all of you is me. I even managed to sneak in a cameo of Victor! *le swoon* So yeah, things are finally bloody happening! I'm sorry I didn't give you guys any warning for this, mostly because I didn't expect it to happen either. I was perfectly fine with just teasing you with the gear shift thing, but then I realized the chapter was WAY too short and needed another scene. This one just so happened to fit in perfectly, and it's a great build up to the next chapter, where things get even better!**

**When I said things are happening, I mean they're FUCKING HAPPENING, YOU GUYS! I'm going to skip over Christmas/December though, if that's okay with you guys. One Christmas special is fluffy enough, thanks. And I want to get straight to February.**

**But first! Quick public announcement: In case you didn't notice, The Bad Habit has now been bumped up to M on account of its corresponding update today. Which means, there's smut in there too. I've been waiting for so long, that at this point, I'm just throwing it at them like flower crowns.**

**Coming up next: It's Valentine's Day, and Cupid holds back no shenanigans! Marie masturbates, Wolverine helps, and Logan develops a debilitating pizza fetish...**


	29. Be My Valentine

**FEBRUARY**

* * *

We were barely in the room before I grabbed her from behind and undid my belt. Her nails dug into my arms and she tried to whisper something seductive, but I didn't care. I finally got my cock out, but the angle wasn't quite right, so I just lifted her up and sat her down on it. Neither of us wore underwear. I threw my head back and hissed at the feeling, and she really dug her nails in with a nervous chuckle. She was impaled on my cock, toes barely touching the ground, my arm around her waist the only thing holding her up.

"Bed." She breathed in a smoky voice. "There _is _a bed, you know."

Like I gave a fuck. I just wanted—needed—I lifted her up an inch, then let her drop. She flailed, top heavy from the fake tits. Her struggling only made the friction better. But she was right, I could fuck her harder if I bent her over the bed.

I yanked her off of me and shoved her toward the bed. She stumbled forward, but turned around and dropped to her knees in front of the bed. I choked off a growl of annoyance. I didn't tell her to do that.

But her hair color was right. Just the right shade of brown and auburn, like M—I stalked forward and grabbed a fistful of that hair. I meant to just shove my cock down her throat, but I found myself pushing in slowly, giving her time to swallow around me and adjust. I wouldn't be rough like that with Ma—Her head bobbed, and I snarled. So good. Use your tongue, darling. Would Mar—

Oh fuck it. I was pretending she was Marie. It was Marie kneeling in front of me, Marie's mouth that I was slow fucking, her little whimpers around my cock. Gotta be careful, don't want to make her gag. Hair is too rough in my hand. Too much blowdrying, curling, hair product. But it's the right color. I opened my eyes to watch it run through my fingers as I flexed my hand. She tried to make eye contact, and that nearly ruined everything, so I shoved her face back down until she gagged. Sorry, darling.

So close, but I wanted to come inside her. Wanted to make her come first, clenching around my cock. The thought almost ended it too soon, and I had to pull her head back. I lifted her up, spun her around, and bent her over the bed. Yanked her skirt up. Couldn't see her face. Just her hair. Right color of hair. I grabbed her hip and pushed back inside, slower than I expected again. Her cunt felt so good squeezing around me, but I wanted more. I started thrusting, going as deep as I could, holding her down when she started trying to rock back. Marie didn't know how to move like that. Need to teach her. Make it good for her.

I reached around and tugged on her skirt until I got it high enough that I could reach her mound. When I slipped my fingers down, I could feel her wetness and myself thrusting just below. Gonna make this real good for you, darling. I rubbed her clit until she screamed, finally coming around my cock the way I wanted her to. That's right, Marie. You fucking come for me. Just one more time. Gotta feel that just one more time. Thrusted faster, losing control. Need her. She came again. I went harder.

_She's not Marie._

_**Shut up shut up shut up!**_

So close. So fucking close, but she didn't smell right. Like booze and cheap cigarettes. Wanted apples and sunshine.

_She's not Marie! Not our mate!_

I screamed and yanked her up by her arm, tossing her halfway across the room. Not-Marie stumbled into the wall and stared at me with wide eyes. Blue eyes. Not Marie. I growled and let out my claws.

"Get out."

She turned and ran out the door. Marie wouldn't run from me. Marie would hug me when I was angry and make it better. My head fucking hurt.

_That's what ya get fer trynta fuck humans who AREN'T OUR MATE!_

I collapsed on the bed, knees hanging over the side, and tugged at my cock. It was still hard, and wet too. Didn't smell right. Not like Marie. I wanted my cock to smell like Marie. I wanted Marie's breath to smell like my cock. I tore a pair of her gloves I'd stolen out of my back pocket. I always stole little things of hers, things she wouldn't notice missing for a day until I put them back. They still smelled like her. The apples and sunshine scent I needed. I shoved them against my face and inhaled desperately, slowing my strokes to the shy, hesitant ones she would make.

My cock had been wet after she'd came in my arms, and I gulped in another greedy breath, trying to remember. She'd made such sweet noises, little whimpers of surprise and pleasure. And I'd been the one to make her fall apart. Smelled so good. Should've dipped my fingers in. Just for a little taste. Skin tasted good. Cunt would taste better. All mine. Make her come like that, and with my fingers, on my cock, have her lick it clean after—

Marie. Marie, Marie, Marie.

I came with a roar, practically suffocating myself with her gloves. Came so hard, my back popped and a shot or two might have hit the ceiling. I gasped for breath, making whimpering noises I'd be ashamed of after I finished, but I couldn't care less right then.

_Get up._

I sucked in air and didn't move.

_Get the fuck up. Marie's waiting._

That finally got me going, and I sat up with a groan. I tucked myself back in and zipped up my fly. I could hear the hooker shuffling around in the hallway as I put Marie's gloves back in my pocket and cleaned up. She'd been scared enough to run out of the room, but not to leave entirely. I hadn't paid her yet. She should've asked for cash upfront.

I got up and grabbed my belt. The hooker kept her distance when I walked out. I finished buckling my belt and took out my wallet. She flinched when I raised my hand to offer the money, but she grabbed it quick enough. I walked away, with the Wolverine still snarling at me for being unfaithful to our mate.

* * *

Marie didn't know about the dream, and she sure as hell wasn't going to find out about the hooker. But I still felt like shit about both, especially with the Wolverine deciding to be my conscience and remind me what a fuck up I was at every opportunity. I spent the rest of the night letting amateurs beat the shit out of me in the cage, then went crawling back to Marie, where she waited for me in a different hotel.

Between the near sex and the night of fighting, I was starving. Marie already had a large meatlovers pizza when I walking in. That only twisted the guilt deeper in my gut, and I tried to cover it up.

"Hey, ki—"

My stomach cut me off with a growl. She smiled and offered me a slice. I swallowed hard and tried not to look too guilty when I took it. She must have been pretty hungry too, because she went back to eating while I sat down and struggled to get my boots off. I finally succeeded and ate the rest of the slice in two large gulps.

"Huerk!"

I didn't know what kind of fucking sound I made, but I nearly choked. It tasted sweet. Female. I stared at Marie, and she stared back, looking almost as guilty as I felt. I sniffed the air. Pizza. Stale cigarettes. Marie. Full and sweet, just like that night, only barely covered up by the smell of pizza.

She made a squeal of embarrassment and ran into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her. I sat on the bed with half a bite of pizza still in my mouth, trying to process what had just happened. She must not have washed her hands after—that's how it got on the—I could taste her—

I gulped, and the pizza burned all the way down.

Fuck.

I was hard again and starting to look around the room, wondering if Marie had touched anything else. She had to touch the phone to order the pizza, right?

_Get yer shit together. Ya ain't lickin' the phone!_

I shook my head to clear it. The Wolverine was right. I had my pride, and I sure as hell wasn't going to start licking things in a skanky hotel room just to get another taste of Marie...even though she tasted so good, tart and sweet like apples, wanted that taste on my tongue without the pizza—

_SHUT UP!_

The Wolverine panted in my mind while I sat stunned. I figured his balls would be just as blue as mine. Maybe even more, since he didn't get to make her come. Which was kind of a dick move on my part, but I ran the show here, not him.

_Yeah, and yer doin' a bang up job, bub._

I growled in my defense, but he shoved his thoughts forward again.

_Our mate is havin' another fit in the bathroom, and yer sittin' out here with yer thumb up our ass!_

My retort was another growl. Goddammit. I stood up and tried to concentrate. Fix Marie. She had been embarrassed. I should make her feel better. I stopped with my hand on the knob and realized I had no fucking clue what to say. What was I supposed to tell her? Did we need to have a talk about sex? Shit, what if she had started liking boys? Who the fuck had she been thinking about?! It had better be me.

She whimpered on the other side of the door, and my chest tightened.

"Kid?"

"No!"

"Dammit, Marie. Don't do this again."

"...do we hafta talk about this?" She asked. "Can't Ah jus' get amnesia and forget the last fifteen years?"

"You only got fifteen years."

"Exactly!" She screamed back.

Something thumped, and I tightened my grip on the knob.

"Marie, if you hurt yourself, I will break this fucking door down and—"

"No, no, no! Ah...Ah wanna talk to Wolvie."

I blinked at the door. "Him?"

"Yeah."

_Back up._

_**No, I—**_

_She asked fer ME. Ya ain't got shit to say to fix this, and a couple hours ago, ya were off fuckin' a hooker._

That didn't have shit to do with anything right now, but he was right about me being clueless on how to fix this. And if he was what Marie wanted...

* * *

"Kitling?"

"Wolvie."

_I waited._

_Nothing._

"You going to talk, kit?"

"No, Ah lied."

_I took a deep breath and tried to control my tone. _"Why?"

"Ah jus' wanted Logan to go away, an' Ah knew he wasn't gonna really leave, so Ah asked for yah. But Ah don't wanna talk about it. Evah."

_I waited another few seconds, then tried again. _"What's so bad about it?"

"Ah—yah...wh-wha...no!" _She spluttered._

"Are you embarrassed because Logan knows you masturbate?"

_Something hit the door._

"Shut up!"

"Because he does it too."

**This ain't what you're supposed to be talking about!**

"Everyone does it, kit." _I continued, ignoring him._

"...even yah?"

"When exactly would I have time for that?" _I asked._

_I heard her gasp. _"Logan doesn't let yah **masturbate**? Ohmahgawd Wolvie, yah have **rights**!"

"I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as the right to masturbate." _I reminded her._

"...the pursuit of happiness." _She mumbled. _"Yah even get to masturbate in prison. Well, obviously. Ah kinda guess that's all yah would do."

_She seemed to be in a more talkative mood, so I asked another question._ "Is that what you've been doing when you order pizza?"

"No! Ah—it's not like—not every single...yeah."

"Why don't you want to talk about it?" _I pressed._

"It's embarrassing! Yah both probably think Ah'm stupid or a pervert or something."

_I grinned at the door and barely kept from laughing._ "Kitling, I assure you. The only perverts here are me and the human."

**Yeah, 'cause that was real fucking reassuring.**

"Tell me about it."

"You first." _I immediately replied._

_I didn't know what was going on in her head with me and the human trapped in there, but I doubted we held hands and sang campfire songs. She had told the human I sometimes said things that were "inappropriate." If she only knew the half of it. And where did the human and I go in her mind while she masturbated? Could we...help?_

"Well, yah mostly jus' make a lot of dirty jokes, but they are pretty funny."

"And the human?"

"His name is Logan."

_Like hell I would call him that. He didn't deserve a name, and he sure as hell didn't deserve to be in control if he was just going to run around fucking hookers._

"And he needs to figure out which head he wants to think with."

_I had to clench my teeth from shouting out a damn straight. I didn't want to interrupt her now that she was talking...and bitching about the human._

"One minute, he's fine with a little bit of flirting. But then the next, he wants to give meh a safety lecture and treat me like Ah'm five."

"You growing up is hard on us, kit."

_I hated making excuses for the human, but that was the safest answer. If she was too embarrassed to discuss masturbating with us, then it was too soon to press her for anything more. She might be fifteen and a half, but she still needed some more time to mature and figure out her feelings._

_Goddammit._

"Are you going to come out of the bathroom anytime soon?"

_I'd been understanding and given her space, but that time was over now. She had about one minute before I came in, through the door if I had to, and made sure she hadn't hurt herself. The human and I still remembered the way she had scratched her arms and clutched our tags without her even noticing._

"Coming." _She called._

_I wished. Later. Another half a year or so. I backed up and leaned against the wall so she wouldn't feel crowded. She cracked open the door and peeked out at me. She still looked pretty skittish, so I stayed still and didn't press her any more. As long as she didn't try to ignore me or run away again. But she was a smart little kitling, and she edged closer until she stood in front of me. She didn't look at me though, so I corrected her, raising her head up._

"I don't ever want you to feel embarrassed or ashamed around me, kit. And if you ever get curious or have questions..." _I leaned forward, pressing my lips against her ear. _"I'm here for you, Marie."

_No, it wouldn't be too long now. Just had to wait a little while longer, and I'd get my turn..._

* * *

I'd made a reservation for me and Marie at a nice restaurant, nice enough that I couldn't pronounce its name and would probably have to buy new clothes just to be let inside. But I'd made it before last night, and things had been so awkward between us in the morning, that I figured Marie didn't want to go anywhere with me. Especially if it seemed romantic.

Not that it was. It wasn't like I'd arranged a date or anything. I didn't date. I just wanted to take her someplace nice for a holiday meant for celebrating a special person in your life.

I scowled at the tiled wall and scrubbed more vigorously. It was a date, but it wasn't going to happen. Poor kid wouldn't even look at me now. And how was I supposed to explain taking her out on a date, anyway? She was still fifteen for fuck's sake. She'd probably think I was being creepy.

_Or she'd enjoy the attention. When's the last place ya took her anyway that had clean bathrooms?_

No. It was a stupid idea. We weren't dating.

_'Cause ya cheated on her._

_**I can't cheat if we ain't dating, dumbass.**_

He started to snarl out a reply, but I thought I heard my phone ringing. I paused and tried to listen past the running water. I was pretty sure I heard Marie say thank you and then hum out an affirmative. Had someone called her? Who the fuck else would she be talking to?!

_You can't be jealous if you aren't dating, dumbass._

_**Shut the fuck up.**_

_She can fuck whoever she wants. You do._

_**Whose side are you fucking on?!**_

_Yer the one settin' a bad example! Figure out if ya wanna think with yer head or yer dick._

I slammed off the water and got out of the shower, yanking a towel around my waist. I went to open the door, but Marie toppled in. After all the awkwardness, I didn't think she'd really appreciate being pressed up against me while I was pretty much naked, so I jumped back. I thought between my reflexes and the Wolverine's, she'd catch herself on something nearby. I didn't think it would be my towel.

And she still ended up hitting the floor. I winced and knelt down beside her, trying to make sure she hadn't hit her head. Seemed like my girl was always hitting her damn head on fucking something. But she lifted herself up, turning her head at just the right angle to get a good view of...the full package. And her reaction to that was to breathe out, making her mouth a little O. Breathed out right on my cock. Mouth in the perfect shape. Grab her hair—perfect color—and just push...

I jumped up, grabbed the towel, and practically socked myself in the nuts I shoved it against my crotch so hard. Shit, I hoped she hadn't noticed. Why did this shit keep happening to me?! One month, I'd like to go just one damn month without her skinny dipping or having a wet dream or masturbating or breathing on my fucking cock or any one of the other thousand little "fuck me" things she did. Was that too much to ask for?

"Yeh phone rang." She said, sitting up. "Ah answered it 'cause Ah thought it was mah-ne. Yeh reservation is confirmed."

Fuck, no. She was speaking in that monosyllable voice again, like during the Fourth of July. How had I fucked up? That face to crotch thing wasn't my fault. And we'd both seen each other naked before. Hell, she'd seen me hard in the shower, and that hadn't seemed to bother her. But she just stood up and walked out the bathroom.

"Marie, wait!"

I tried to catch up to her and fasten my towel again at the same time. She was still walking by the time I got out of the bathroom, but I didn't know where she thought she was going. I grabbed her wrist, and she turned around.

"Yes, Logan?"

I dropped her hand and coughed. "You okay, kid?"

She stared at me blankly for a moment, and I had the uneasy feeling I had somehow just made it worse.

"Fah-ne. It was jus' an accident. Coulda happened to anybody. Congratulations on yeh date. Ah'm sure she'll enjoy it." Her voice finally faltered as she blushed suddenly and started talking faster. "The date, Ah mean, not yeh man stuff—not that she won't enjoy that too."

I was so relieved she'd stopped using that creepy flat tone that it took me a second to figure out why she was referring to herself in the third person. She'd answered my phone and found out I had a date, and now she thought I was going out with someone else.

She started to run again, but I grabbed her and pulled her back, spinning her around in my arms. Her body was hard and stiff, but I couldn't help from grinning like an idiot.

"You're jealous."

"No!" She snapped.

I could smell the lie, and it only made me grin harder. She struggled, but I hugged her tight.

"Sorry. Shouldn't have grinned at that." I mumbled, still smiling a little. "You're my date. I made the reservation for us."

I held my breath while I waited for her reaction. She looked up at me and gave me a pouty glare.

"Then why didn't yah tell meh?"

"Didn't think you'd want to after last night." I admitted.

"Well Ah do, yah jerk! Ah wanna—" She blushed again and hid her face against my chest. "Ah jus' like holidays."

"Sure, kid."

I didn't want to pry too much, but I knew there was an ending to that sentence. And it wasn't just holidays that she liked. It looked like my little Marie was starting to get a crush. All I had to do was keep it that way for a while longer, just until she was old enough. Then we could go on a date for real.

"Let me get dressed, and we'll go clothes shopping."

That cheered her right up. Women and their damn shopping. Whatever, as long as it made her happy. She nodded and looked a lot calmer, so I let her go and pulled on some clothes.

* * *

Turns out the damn brat just wanted to see me in a fucking suit. I hated suits. They felt tight and itchy. I let her pick me out some slacks and a button down, but I vetoed the jacket. It was too damn small anyway.

She looked damn good though. So fucking good. Got her a real nice dress in a lighter blue, modest but pretty. But it was the gloves that had me drooling. Slinky black gloves that came all the way up to her elbows. I never knew gloves could be sexy, but all I could think about was how they'd feel wrapped around my cock. Those gloves would definitely be making a short disappearance. Or a long one. I'd be real careful not to stain them though.

Christ, she was going to kill me.

I led her into the restaurant with my hand on her lower back because I just couldn't resist, and she didn't stop me. The waiter glared at me and my jacket. MY jacket, the leather one that was warm and fit me right. I only stopped myself from sneering back because this was supposed to be special for Marie.

"Do you have a reservation?" He asked in a tone that said, "Do I need to call the police?"

"Howlett."

He looked down at his list like it had the names of Judgement Day on it and practically wept with disgust when he saw my name on it. A waiter came up to show us to our seats, and I kept Marie real fucking close to me while all the other diners looked us over and wondered what she was doing with a guy like me.

"Will the young lady be needing a children's menu?" The waiter asked.

I could smell Marie's outrage, but she only smiled and said no. He set down our menus like a challenge in reply. Marie ordered a water, but I went with a Canadian Club whiskey. I needed something to take the edge off. Shit, I didn't know how to date. Marie gave me a sympathetic look and a small smile after he left.

"Ah'm sure the food is good." She said.

I just grunted and opened my menu. Fucking Italian. It was all written in fucking Italian. I threw mine back down in disgust, but Marie kept studying hers. She mouthed words silently to herself, her face occasionally lighting up in understanding. My girl was so smart. I liked that she got all that book stuff. The entire place made my knuckles itch, but if she liked fancy places like this, I'd suffer through it. At least the water got back to us with our drinks pretty quickly.

"Would you be interested in our artisan pizzas?" He sneered.

I almost choked again on my whiskey. I quickly pretended to look at the menu and tried to think of anything except Marie and pizza. But my head felt light, probably because all my blood rushed straight to my cock. Marie saved me from speaking by ordering for both of us. I hoped to hell she knew what she was saying and got me something good. I just hid behind my menu like a fucking sissy, until I heard Marie snickering. I looked at ther over the menu and scowled.

"You got something to laugh about, kid?" I asked.

She grinned. "It's a little bit funny."

"Yeah, I'm sure you think it's real funny, giving me a damn pizza fetish. Haha." I dropped the menu and shifted in my seat, trying to subtly adjust myself.

I probably would get a real goddamn fetish from that. I didn't think I would ever be able to look at a slice of pizza the same way again. And if I ever came back to our hotel room and smelled pizza...

"Payback for giving me a gear fetish." Marie replied.

And I sputtered on my drink of whiskey for a second time. Sassy little thing had the nerve to laugh at me for it too.

"By the time we're finished with each other, we'll have all these weird kinks for random things that are either really ordinary or really outlandish. Like..." She paused to think, scrunching up her nose. "...sponges and llamas!"

I looked at her like she was crazy while she laughed again. People were glancing over at us, but she looked too damn beautiful when she laughed like that for me to care. At least she'd gotten over her earlier funk. Although it had been damn good for my ego to have her get all jealous over me.

_Yeah, jest think how jealous she'd be if she knew about the hooker. _The Wolverine said in an overly happy tone that gave me the fucking creeps.

_**When are you gonna shut the fuck up about that?!**_

He just growled and stalked off to sulk in the corner of my mind. Good. Didn't fucking ask for his goddamn input anyway. Marie started to calm down and took a drink of water, but then she choked too. These people were going to think we didn't know how to drink without fucking sippy cups.

I raised an eyebrow to get an explanation, and she blushed and spluttered for a few more moments.

"Wolvie wishes to add that instead of washing llamas, you'd do better to try beavers. Because there are more of them here. It being Canada and all." She explained with great dignity.

I cleared my throat and didn't look at her. I didn't really want to know how they'd gotten onto that topic. What sort of filth was that animal polluting her mind with, anyway?!

"Soooo, how about that hockey game?"

Marie finally changed the subject to something decent, and I explained why desert states like Arizona didn't deserve to have fucking hockey teams, and that the referees were all corrupt or idiots or both. She nodded along, and I knew she actually listened to most of what I said because every now and then she would ask a really good question.

My words of wisdom were cut off by the arrival of her salad though, and she told me how her schoolwork was going in between bites. She'd finished her driver's ed course last week and gotten a certificate for it, so we'd moved on. But she still kept up with that online shit I got her, and it sounded like she was really far ahead with it too. I was damn proud of her for it.

The meal was an utter fucking disappointment though. The steak was cooked too well and rubbery. Apparently, Italians didn't know shit about beef. I would have taken her to an Outback, which wasn't as fancy but at least had decent food, but there were only three of them or so in Canada. But next year, we sure as fuck wouldn't be coming back here. I'd take us down into the goddamn States if I had to. And her poor little fish pasta thing came on a plate barely bigger than her hand.

Marie passed on desert. That's how I knew the night had sucked. If it had been so bad she didn't even want chocolate, she must have hated the whole night. I tried not to slink too much on our walk back to the truck, but I just wanted to put my tail between my legs. I should've known I couldn't pull off this dating shit. The ride back to the hotel was silent too, until she looked over and called my name. I braced myself for a gentle explanation that everything I'd done was wrong.

"Ah really, really appreciate tonight, but Ah'm still hungry, can we please stop at that rib joint?" She asked all in one breath.

It took a second for her request to register, but then I made an illegal U turn and got us into the parking lot. She grinned and hopped out on her own, practically running into the place. I ordered a loaded brisket, and we found a table that sat in front of a tv playing a hockey game. She recognized the team and checked with me to be sure it was the one I had been talking about. I felt like throwing her a damn parade—she really had been listening! I should teach her about cars next. Show her how an engine works.

Our order was up, and I got it from the front counter while Marie sipped her root beer. It was a giant plate of brisket, topped with cheese and bacon and rib sauce. I practically drooled over it walking back to our table, and Marie's eyes widened when she saw it. She held out her hands, wiggling her fingers in an impatient "gimme" motion. She ate half the damn thing by herself, getting sauce smeared all over her face and hands in the process.

So of course she had to lick her fingers clean. Because my Marie was just a little cock tease like that, and I was damn grateful for it. All in all, I figured maybe I could figure this dating thing out after all, but only with her.

* * *

**A/N: I am SO sorry I posted these chapters so late! I normally post in the morning before class, but I overslept and barely made it to class on time. But it's here! A little late, but I try really hard not to miss updates.**

**So how do you all feel about Logan? What an asshole for fucking a hooker or how sweet for taking Marie out on a date? Both? And then there's Wolverine. He's going to be Logan's conscience until Logan learns how to be a real boy.**

**More flower crowns, aka smut! I told you guys, shit is getting real. Just a few more chapters until the REALLY good stuff (drama, not smut, unfortunately) starts happening. But please, let me know what you've thought of the smutty stuff so far! I've never written sex scenes before, so feedback will be greatly appreciated!**

**Coming up next: Wolverine gets his mate pinned beneath him, and he's determined to finally get his turn...**


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